
Book 



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Goiyiightl^ 



.10 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE DISPOSAL 



O F 



MUNICIPAL REFUSE 



BY 

H. de B. PARSONS 

Consulting Engineer 

Member American Society of Civil Engineers ; Member American Society of 

Mechanical Engineers; and Author of " Steam- Boilers : Their 

Theory and Design " 



FIRST EDITION 

FIRST THOUSAND 



NEW YORK 

JOHN WILEY & SONS 
LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, Limited 

1906 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Conies Received 

MAY 17 1906 

CLASS/ a, XXc. NO. 
'^COPY B. 



Copyright, 1906 

BY 

H. de B. PARSONS 



ROBERT DRUMMOND, PRINTER, NEW YORK 



^6^-/^7/7 



To 

JOHN McGAW WOODBURY, Esquire 

These Pages are Dedicated 

By his Friend 

The Author 



PREFACE 



The author was retained by Major John McGaw Wood- 
bury, Commissioner of the Department of Street Cleaning of 
the City of New York, to make certain designs for the dis- 
position of some of the city refuse. The matter contained 
in these pages is the result of the author's observations and 
records, and it is hoped that it will be so expressed as to be 
free of all bias and be of use to others. In no sense is Major 
Woodbury responsible for any of the statements made or 
conclusions drawn. 

The object of these pages is: 

First. To place the matter collected by the author, at 
considerable trouble and time, in a concise form, so that those 
undertaking to improve municipal conditions may more readily 
take up the subject and become acquainted with the principles 
involved. 

Second. To describe the characteristics of the different 
classes of refuse, and to draw attention to the fact that, if a 
uniform method of nomenclature and record of quantities 
handled could be kept by the various cities, then the data 
obtained and the information so gained would be a material 
advance toward the sanitary disposal of refuse. Such uni- 
formity would not put any expense upon the cities, and direct 
comparisons and correct conclusions could be made for the 
benefit of others. 



VI PREFACE 

As the author was most familiar with the conditions obtain- 
ing in the city of New York, these pages chiefly refer to that 
city for illustrations, but the author has endeavored to so 
arrange the material as to be applicable to all. 

It is not intended that these pages shall be a treatise on 
the designing of details for the final disposition of city refuse, 
but rather to state the characteristics of the materials col- 
lected, the uses to which they could be put, the quantities 
that may be expected, and the principles underlying their 
sanitary and economic handling. 

The author desires to extend his thanks to Commissioner 
Woodbury for the opportunities which he gave him for making 
observations; to Mr. A. de Wildey, Superintendent of Final 
Disposition, Department of Street Cleaning, City of New 
York, for his assistance in obtaining the amount of the city's 
collections; to Mr. Frederick L. Stearns for certain photo- 
graphs which he supplied; and to the ofiicials of those cities 
who were kind enough to send their reports. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

Foreword i 

General Introduction. Difficulties. Sanitary Considerations. 
Financial Considerations. 



CHAPTER II 

Conditions 4 

Conditions Variable, Climatic, Geographical, and Political. Object. 

CHAPTER III 

Waste Materials 12 

Classification. Definitions. Descriptions. 

CHAPTER IV 

Collections 41 

Primary Separation. Carts. Central Receiving-stations. Tipples 
and Dumping-boards. Sorting or Trimming. 

CHAPTER V 

Methods of Disposal 77 

Dumping on Land. Dumping in Water. Ploughing into Soil. 
Feeding to Swine. Reduction. Incineration. 

CHAPTER VI 

Reduction and Incineration 105 

Development of the Systems. Limitations. Advantages and Dis- 
advantages. 

vii 



via CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VII 

PAGE 

Economies 112 

Intrinsic Values of Refuse. Haulage. Reduction. Incineration. 
Value of Refuse as a Fuel. Evaporative Results obtained in Prac- 
tice. Forty-seventh Street and Delancey Slip Results. 

CHAPTER VIII 

Snow Removal 133 

Carting and Dumping into Water. Contract System. Cost of 
Removal in New York. Snow Melting. 

CHAPTER IX 

Practical Incineration. 136 

Rubbish Incineration. West Forty-seventh Street and Delancey 
Slip, New York. Mixed Refuse Incineration. Hamburg, Bolton, 
Fulham, Accrington, Moss Side, Brussels. 



LIST OF TABLES 

TABLE 

I. Classification of City Wastes 14 

II. Unburned Coal in Steam-ash 17 

III. Analyses of Household-ash and Mixed Ashes 18 

IV. Analyses of Garbage 20 

V. Composition of Rubbish 23 

VI. Composition of Street-sweepings 25 

VII. Annual Collection of City Refuse in Tons 27 

VIII. Collections of City Refuse in Pounds per Capita 29 

IX. Average Collections per Capita per Day 32 

X. Approximate Calorific Value of Refuse -. •• 121 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PJG. PAGE 

1. General Refuse in Pounds per Capita per Day oj 

2. Ashes in Pounds per Capita per Day ^i- 

3. Garbage in Pounds per Capita per Day ^y 

4. Rubbish in Pounds per Capita per Day -i-j 

5. General Refuse. Borough of Manhattan, New York, 1903 30 

6. Ash- or Garbage-cart, with Canvas Cover ^y 

7. Garbage-cart with Sliding Cover. . . ^j 

8. Garbage-cart with Sliding Cover, in Dumping Position ^ 4q 

9. Large MetaUic Garbage-cart ^g 

10. Rubbish- or Paper-cart c i 

11. Flushing Street with Hose ^ i 

12. Street-flushing Wagon Operated with Gasoline Engine cc 

13. Street -flushing Wagon Operated by Compressed Air ^7 

14. Portable Can for Street-sweepings. Washington, D. C 59 

15. Hand-cart for Paper and Leaves. Washington, D. C 59 

16. Mechanical Brush Sweeper. Washington, D. C 61 

17. Horse Sweeping-machine 61 

18. Street-sweepings in Bags for Removal and Sale 63 

19. Sidewalk Can for Paper, Fruit-skins, etc 63 

Sunken Sidewalk Can. 65 

Can-cart for Street-sweepings 6^ 

Dumping into Scows. New York 6q 

23. Ash Collection : Bins for Removal by Trolley 71 

24. > ' " Bins on a Trolley Car 71 

25. " " Unloading Bins from Car y-y 

26. " * ' Dumping the Bins 7j 

27. Unloading Ashes and Rubbish for Filling in Land, Riker's Island, 

New York 81 

28. Conveyor for Filling. Riker's Island, New York 81 

29. Conveyor for Filling. Riker's Island, New York 83 

30. Distributing the Filling Material. Riker's Island, New York 83^ 

31. Scow being Unloaded by Hand in the Ocean, off Sandy Hook, New 

York 85 



20 
21 
22 



IX 



X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIG. PAGE 

32. Barney Self-dumping Scow. New York 87 

:^:^. Delahanty Automatic Dumping-boat, Self-propelling, New York 89 

34. Delahanty Automatic Dumping-boat on Dry Dock 91 

35. Disfigurement of Beach by Dumping at Sea. New York, 1901 91 

36. Unloading Garbage at Barren Island, New York 99 

T,'j. Digesters for Garbage. Barren Island, New York 101 

38. Pressing Grease and Water from Garbage. Barren Island, New York. loi 

39. Piling and Loading Snow into Carts 129 

40. Loading Snow into Carts 129 

41. Dumping Snow into River. New York 131 

42. West Forty-seventh Street Rubbish Incinerator. New York 137 

43. Rubbish Collections on Scow. New York 139 

44. Carts Dumping Rubbish 139 

45. Feeding Rubbish into Furnace, Forty-seventh Street Incinerator 141 

46. Conveyor and Men Sorting put Marketable Articles 141 

47. Conveyor Discharging into the Furnace 145 

48. Baling the Marketable Material, Forty-seventh Street Incinerator. . . . 145 

49. Old Bedding and Furniture at Forty-seventh Street Incinerator 147 

50. Ash Collections when Freed from Rubbish 147 

51. Plan of Rubbish Incinerator and Electric-lighting Station under 

/ Williamsburg Bridge, New York 148 

52/Design of Stack 149 

53. Street Front of Incinerator Building. Delancey Slip 151 

54. Conveyor and Sorting Boxes. Delancey Slip 151 

55. Material Picked out and Baled, Ready for Shipment, Delancey Slip. . 153 

56. Conveyor Discharging on Platform over Furnaces 153 

57. Cross-section of East Furnace. Delancey Slip 157 

58. Stoking-doors, Front of East Furnace. Delancey Slip 157 

59. Longitudinal Section of East Furnace. Delancey Slip 159 

60. Plan and Section through Electric-lighting Station. Delancey Slip. . 160 

61. Electric Cables running up Bridge Tower. Delancey Slip 161 

62. Sample Steam-card, during Hours of Bridge-lighting 163 

63. Tile Damper used in Flue. Delancey Slip 163 

64. Smoke at Top of Stack, Rubbish Collections Dry 165 

65. Smoke at Top of Stack, Rubbish Collections Wet 165 

66. Stirling Boilers. Delancey Slip 167 

67. Conveyor for Unloading Scows, across East Street 168 

68. Refuse-destructor Plant. Hamburg, Germany 171 

69. Hacken Destructor Works. Bolton, England 172 

70. Destructor Plant of Fulham Corporation, England I73 

71. Destructor Plant, at Accrington, England 175 

72. Destructor Plant, Moss Side, Manchester, England 177 

73. Destructor Plant, Brussels, Belgiurn 179 



DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 



CHAPTER I 

FOREWORD 

General Introduction, Difficulties. Sanitary Conditions. 
Financial Considerations. 

The officials of every municipality have to encounter the 
problem for the final disposition of the waste materials dis- 
carded by the people. While always of a serious nature, this 
problem is especially so in thickly settled communities and 
in cities of over 30,000 population. It is a problem which 
demands, year after year, a closer study, greater thought, 
and more earnest consideration, because of the increasing 
use of the suburban districts, and of the fact that the " luxury 
of one day is the necessity of the next." It is a problem which 
must be faced by every community, and sooner or later be 
worked out to a satisfactory solution. In arriving at any 
solution, there probably will be failures; but the expenditure 
of time, energy, and money will be well repaid if the experi- 
ence gained is only appreciated and the causes of success or 
failure properly interpreted. 

The disposal of city refuse, in a sanitary manner and at 
reasonable cost, is one of the most important municipal prob- 
lems. 



2 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

Lord Palmerston is credited witli the saying that " dirt 
is matter out of place." The waste of a municipality is 
certainly matter which cannot be replaced, and it is only right 
that the ingenuity of man should be directed to so place this 
matter that it may do the least harm and perchance be made 
to produce something useful. Time, experience, and accu- 
mulated knowledge will, no doubt, so revolutionize ancient 
practices and customs that the quotation '' The loss of wealth 
is loss of dirt " * will be reversed so as to read, " The loss of 
dirt is the loss of wealth." 

City scavenging commences with the householder. The 
house receptacles are all-important. The primary collec- 
tions of the municipal refuse, from the houses, dwellings, hotels, 
restaurants, places of business, stores, manufacturing estab- 
lishments, and the streets, are made by vehicles which con- 
vey the waste materials to points for final disposition. This 
primary collection in itself need not present any special diffi- 
culty. It is a matter of carefully working out details to best 
suit the conditions as they may exist in any place. 

The problem that is serious and difficult to solve is that 
for the final disposition of this refuse — a problem which is 
closely aUied to the health of the community. The direct 
benefits derived by a suitable system for sanitary disposal are 
augmented indirectly by an increase in the health of the 
community. The preservation of health by the betterment 
of surrounding conditions is one of the foremost duties of all 
public servants. 

No matter how the question is approached, the practical 
considerations of first cost and expense of operation and main- 
tenance will be found paramount. On this account, as well 
as the short tenure of office of our city authorities, systems 
have come into use which are neither the most sanitary nor 
the most economical for final disposition. Contracts have been 

* J. Heywood, "Be Merry Friends." 



FOREWORD 3 

let for such short periods that contractors have refrained 
from erecting suitable plants, and systems have been evolved 
which earn for the cities only a portion of the direct returns 
that might be obtained. 

It is self-evident that, above all other considerations, the 
methods for both collection and disposal should be sanitary. 
The Street Cleaning Department, the Health Department, 
or whatever branch of the municipal government that may 
have the charge of caring for, and getting rid of, these waste 
materials will always be a cause of some friction with the 
people. Their acts for general betterment will be considered 
by some as harmful and detrimental; and selfish and per- 
sonal considerations will crop out as deterring factors against 
every step for advancement. 

The other aspect of the subject is one of cost. Both the 
sanitary and the financial considerations must be regarded, 
and the selected method for any community must embody 
both, if it is to be classed as successful. 



CHAPTER II 

CONDITIONS 

Conditions variable, climatic, geographical, and political. Object. 

The conditions existing in different municipalities are 
so variable that the solution of the problem of caring 
for the solid wastes must be taken up and studied for each 
locality by itself. While the conditions are variable, there 
are many characteristics which are common to all. 

Any results predicated on information obtained from other 
places will not always be satisfactory, as statistics gathered 
from one city are not applicable in toto to another. In order 
to make a solution of the problem, it is necessary to study 
the conditions obtaining in the particular place under con- 
sideration, and apply the general principles thereto, with such 
modifications as may be desirable. The conditions to be 
met are found to vary with the climate, with the industries, 
with the character of the population, with the geographical 
location of the municipality, and with the form of poHtical 
government. 

A hot climate often necessitates a different treatment of the 
wastes than a cold climate. Garbage and other putrescible 
matter cannot be kept so long in the former without creating 
a nuisance, and the lack of time for storage will mean rapid 
disposal. The collections also must be made more frequently 
and with regularity, to insure the constant and continual 
destruction of the putrescible matter, so as to prevent any 
congestion at the point for final disposition. The amount 



CONDITIONS 5 

of house- ash also will be very much less in southern cities 
than in northern ones. 

The industries of the people are also elements that play 
an important part in governing the character of the mate- 
rials collected. The collections in a purely manufacturing 
town differ much from those in a residential district, and 
again differ with the character of the manufacturing estab- 
lishments. The wastes from districts filled with metal- work- 
ing plants, gas-houses, or electric plants are not at all like 
those from districts containing wood- working plants, shipping, 
slaughter-houses, and cattle-yards. In large centres, the 
refuse materials from the various sub-districts are so unlike 
in make-up as frequently to require different treatments. 
This latter often can be accomplished by adopting some suit- 
able method of primary separation. 

The character of the population is also a factor of impor- 
tance. A population such as is found in many cities on the 
continent of Europe will produce waste of marked difference 
in its constituent elements from that collected in cities of 
similar size and class in America. The waste will not only 
differ in its make-up, but in its amount per capita. A popu- 
lation which supports hotels and restaurants of all grades, 
from the highest to the lowest standards, will generally be 
found to produce much less waste in garbage and combus- 
tible refuse than those in which the " Bohemian " popula- 
tion is lacking. The cheaper hotels and res aurants feed in 
part on the wastes from their more expensive and fashionable 
associates, and the practice extends from the most expensive 
to the cheapest. Furthermore, those cities which support 
a. large proportion of poor, especially of the idle or unemployed 
class, produce less market wastes and less combustible refuse 
than those in which the people are more uniformly well-to-do. 
The cities in which there is a large transient or floating ele- 
ment of well-to-do people, ever coming and going, seem to 
produce the greatest amount of garbage and combustible 



6 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

refuse. Such places are indicated by the numerous hotel 
accommodations which they support. The maximum amounts 
of household refuse per capita come from those districts in 
which are located large stores, private dwellings of the better 
class, and corresponding hotels and restaurants. The per- 
centage of unburned coal carted away in the ashes from 
these latter districts is always large, especially so from the 
private dwellings. 

The tenement-house districts, especially those inhabited 
by the least educated of the Russians, the Poles, the Scandi- 
navians, the Italians, and the Jewish element, often produce a 
careless and filthy class of waste, and one containing a low 
percentage of combustible material, such as wood, paper, 
packing- boxes, etc., which is saved and retained for fuel. 
Such districts could be inspected rigidly with advantage, to 
educate and force the people to deposit their wastes in proper 
receptacles, rather than to throw them into the streets and 
other public places. Unfortunately, this educational process 
is most difficult, due to the ignorance of the people, their 
lack of order and reverence for things cleanly, the smallness 
of their abodes, the crowded condition of the tenements, and 
the political advantage of non-interference. 

The geographical location of the municipality will govern 
in many instances the methods and treatments selected. Places 
so situated that much low lands, marshes, and shores can be 
filled in with some or all of the material will require a differ- 
ent solution from those not so located and from those where 
suburban districts are valuable and attractive. 

Much of the refuse from a city is of a cleanly character, 
and the health of such a community, when surrounded by 
marshes and swamps, often can be improved by a judicious, 
separation of the wastes and the utilization of the selected 
material for filling. Some other treatment would then be 
adopted for the putrescible and unsightly wastes. Dumping 
the material at sea has been practised by places situated on the 



CONDITIONS 7 

coast, facilities which are, of course, not available for inland 
communities, unless they are located on the banks of large 
rivers. This water dumping should not be encouraged unless 
the material is in itself sinkable, as the tides and currents will 
wash up the floating elements on the neighboring beaches 
and shores. Unfortunately, the disagreeable elements of 
the dumping-scow's cargo will float — bedding, organic mat- 
ter, and carcasses of dead animals. The cost of patrolling 
the beaches and burning the upcast from the sea will prove 
an expensive method to protect the shores from this nuisance, 
and will require, perhaps, an outlay which might be applied 
to better advantage by the adoption of some other method for 
sorting or disposal, or both. 

The form of political government in the municipality wi 1 
be found a factor quite as potent as many other considerations. 
When the government is elected by the popular vote, for 
service during a limited period, there usually exists a desire 
to complete something which may be typical of the adminis- 
tration. As almost any scheme for a sanitary and systematic 
method for the solid-waste disposal would require more time 
for completion than the usual tenure of office, and, further- 
more, would demand an immediate outlay of funds which 
would increase the taxation, before the benefits of the scheme 
were appreciated, there is a tendency to devote the administra- 
tion energy along some other channel, and to do only that 
which is needed to-day, leaving the demands of to-morrow to 
be settled by their successors. Each official, also, wants to 
inaugurate something of his own, a something which would 
increase his reputation, and hesitates to commence that which 
would have to be completed by another. The adoption, organ- 
ization, and accomplishment of any method for the solid- waste 
disposal of a large city is a task requiring considerable time and 
money, a task which should have the same directing policy 
from beginning to end, guided by a leader free from political 
fears and political ambitions, if the best results are to be 



8 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

achieved. The ordinary political appointee would indeed 
be brave who would dare to revolutionize a large city's 
method of disposal, even though the facts should all point to 
betterment and economy. It requires more than the ordi- 
nary office-seeker to accomplish real results in this direc- 
tion. 

Some cities have no well-defined method in use, some 
the most crude and primitive methods, and some have im- 
proved the crude methods originally in use through the con- 
stant demands of the people. A few cities of this latter class 
have organized and put into practice some system or other, 
which they are carrying out with more or less success. 

The result is that in America there is no uniform practice; 
that the best of the methods of to-day are capable of being 
vastly improved; that the economies are wasted; that many 
of the methods in use are either unsanitary or, if not, are a 
nuisance which could be bettered; and that the adoption of 
the more sanitary methods probably will be undertaken first 
by moderate- sized cities, as the expense of change and experi- 
ment would be costly in the larger ones. 

The sanitary disposal of city wastes is and should be treated 
as an engineering problem. The failures that have been 
recorded can be attributed to lack of organization, poor advice, 
or faulty planning. Any plant for refuse disposal must be 
proportioned and built in accordance with the common-sense 
rules of engineering science, if the best results are to be obtained. 
If the details of the system adopted are false, a nuisance or a 
failure may be expected, with the result that public opinion 
will be wrought up in opposition to the plan, even though the 
underlying principles are correct. As the methods of col- 
lection and disposal often are the cause of bad and disagree- 
able smells, some people have, therefore, asserted that the 
question should be treated purely as a sanitary one, and that 
the disposal arrangements should be under the direction and 
care of a Health Board. This conclusion, however, is not 



CONDITIONS 9 

necessarily the case, and practically a Health Board had better 
be free to condemn than be made to stand sponsor. 

All refuse is unsightly, and the garbage portion is pro- 
ductive of bad smells and odors. Such smells and odors, 
together with the unsightly appearance of the collected mate- 
rial, do not always mean things unhealthy. Bad smells 
are not necessarily unhealthy, although they may indicate 
the presence of unhealthy or putrescible matter and be a nui- 
sance. Because the material does smell, or will cause a smell 
if improperly handled, is not good ground for placing the 
whole subject of disposal in the hands of a Board of Health. 
Such Health Boards can be of great assistance, and as such 
co-operate and assist, as may be required, in the' carrying 
out of the engineering features of the collecting, handling, 
and disposing of the material. 

The sanitary disposal of municipal waste is fairly well 
understood, and a method carried out along proper engineer- 
ing lines reed not be productive of more smell, or be the cause 
of a greater nuisance, than other things which are tolerated 
in our daily lives. An engineer who is willing to study the 
problem can dispose of these city wastes in a manner that 
will be sanitary, provided, of course, that the municipality 
will grant the money and power to accomplish his ideas. 

The solution of the problem is in reality one of engineer- 
ing, and should be handled as such. Many communities 
have spent large sums of money to produce little else but 
failure, owing to a lack of suitable engineering advice, and 
have, therefore, been led to condemn all means for treat- 
ment. The problem before the city authorities — to dispose 
of its waste material — is always at the beginning less scientific 
than practical. The material must be gotten rid of by some 
means or other, and the city must face and cannot get away 
from the practical considerations. To convert the practical 
problem into a scientific, sanitary treatment requires time, 
money, and inteUigence, and nearly all large cities areendeav- 



lo DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

oring to better present conditions. It is self-evident, that a 
thorough and unselfish co-operation between the different 
departments or branches of municipal organization should 
exist, if the greatest benefits are to be acquired. 

The facts and figures stated in municipal reports, as pub- 
lished, are apt to be extremely misleading. The costs are not 
figured on the same basis, and often fail to state just what 
services they cover. The quantities of material handled are 
not always accurate, as the publications give the city's record 
of loads handled, and the yardage and tonnage are not always 
found in a constant ratio. Furthermore, the quality of mate- 
rial is variable, not alone from season to season, but from 
district to district. However, these reports are valuable 
sources of information, and when they are analyzed with cau- 
tion, the statistics so collected are trustworthy. When using 
information so gathered as a basis for a close estimate, or 
for comparative results of one method of treatment as against 
another, care should be exercised to seek parallel conditions 
as far as practicable. 

The object to be obtained is some efficient method or 
process, suitable to the locality, for the collection and final 
disposition of the waste materials — a process which must 
be sanitary, so as not to endanger the public health or 
cause a public nuisance, and can be operated at a reasonably 
low cost. 

The question of cost is an important practical considera- 
tion, but the effort to secure a cheap disposal should not be 
carried so far as to jeopardize sanitary considerations. The 
most sanitary and scientific treatments are not necessarily 
the best financially. 

The solution for any given locality cannot of necessity 
be in accord with any fixed rule. It is dependent upon the 
quantity of the wastes, their composition, the location and 
arrangement of the city as affecting collections and haulage, 
and on the civic government. 



CONDITIONS 1 1 

If the composition is such that a portion can be picked 
out and sold for profit, then such a separation and utilization 
is permissible to reduce the general cost of disposal, so long 
as it can be effected in a sanitary manner and without annoy- 
ance. 



CHAPTER III 
WASTE MATERIALS 

Classification. Definitions. Descriptions. 

Among those who have studied the subject there is a 
decided trend of opinion, amounting to almost unanimity, 
that the solution of the problem of refuse disposal for any 
community requires good engineering advice and has passed 
the point where the matter can be entrusted solely to city 
councils or committees, whose members have not had tech- 
nical training. 

The different conditions found demand a diversity of 
treatment, and, in consequence, no one method can be stated 
to be superior to another, unless the limiting conditions are 
defined. Every one may have his own personal ideas and 
prejudices in favor of some method of final disposition, but 
the fact exists that there has not been established any uni- 
formity in practice throughout the various cities, and that 
the general public does not fully appreciate the importance 
of the subject. In America, the smaller cities will probably 
be the first to undertake a scientific treatment of their wastes, 
especially as regards the introduction of new methods and 
ideas, as with them the first cost of a new system will not be 
too great. There are, however, exceptions to this statement, 
which is intended only to be general. 

The whole matter will be one of gradual development. It 
probably never will be freed from complaints, but the objec- 
tionable nuisances and unsanitary conditions, now found so 

12 



WASTE MATERIALS 13 

frequently, will be overcome as the citizens become educated 
to perceive the advantages that may be gained. 

In Europe, the method of disposal and utilization by incin- 
eration has been developed much more than in America, and 
considerable data have been collected. These foreign destructor 
plants have in many instances been reported in favorable 
terms, both from sanitary and financial standpoints. 

Before proceeding farther it will be well to define the 
solid waste materials and to give their characteristics so far 
as can be determined. 

A general division and subdivision of the materials is 
given in Table I. The scheme classifies the wastes of a 
municipality into three divisions, the basis of classification 
being chiefly dependent upon the method of handling, as 
practised by " usage and custom." The first and second 
divisions — the *' fluid and semi-fluid refuse " and the " gen- 
eral refuse " — consist of that portion for which the authori- 
ties should make provision, as the people cannot be made 
or entrusted to dispose of them in a sanitary manner. 
The third division includes those w^astes which are cared for 
by private or special service — either by private contract or 
by the parties creating the refuse. The item of dead ani- 
mals, however, is a possible exception, and in large cities 
the authorities should make some provision for their removal. 

As uniformity in practice is lacking, the scheme for dis- 
posal adopted in any city will not always agree with the method 
of division for classification as given in the table. Some cities 
provide for the disposal of only a part of the general refuse, 
while others care for the whole. However, this classification 
is carried sufficiently far to illustrate the interrelation of the 
various waste substances, and will be of assistance in planning 
a disposal method, when there are not sufficient funds to handle 
all the waste materials. 

The fluid and semi-fluid refuse or sewage is usually removed 
through subterranean drains or channels to points for final 



14 



DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 



discharge. The matter of sewage disposal, including night- 
soil, is a subject by itself and about which much has been 
written. Sewage disposal, therefore, will be omitted from 
further consideration here, as reference should be made to 
special treatises on that subject. 

Table 1 
classification of city wastes 



City-waste 
Materials 



Fluid and f 
Semi-fluid ■{ Sewage 
Refuse t 



Ashes 



General 
Refuse 



Garbage 



Rubbish 



Street- 
sweepings 



Snow 



Trade 
Refuse 



r House Sewage 

\ Street, Roof, and Area Drainage 

[ Night-soil 

/ Steam Ashes 

\ Household Ashes 

r Animal Matter 
I Vegetable Matter 
1 Meat and Bones 
[_ Fruit 

' Paper 

Wood 

Rags and Bedding 

Leather and Rubber 

Metals 

Bottles, Glass, and Crockery 
. Sweepings from Buildings 

C Animal Manure 
I Pavement Dirt 

Droppings from Carts 

Materials from Building Construction 
[ Some Rubbish and Leaves 



' Cellar Excavations 

Materials from Building Construction 

Stable Manure 
] Market Offal 

Slaughter-house Offal 

Dead Animals 



The disposition of the trade-refuse collections also need 
not be included, as they are handled by private and special 
services, except so far as these materials may be added to 
the general refuse wastes, and then become a burden on the 
community. For instance, in many cities private collections 
are made of ashes, garbage, and rubbish from dwellings, hotels, 



WASTE MATERIALS 1$ 

and industrial establishments. The materials so collected 
are then often transferred to the city at the receiving stations 
or dumping-places for final disposition. 

Private collections are those which are maintained by 
private enterprise and paid for by the individuals creating the 
wastes. Public-service collections are those which are main- 
tained by the city and for which the expense becomes a public 
charge. 

The general refuse, for which the community should pro- 
vide a method for collection and disposal, is separable into 
five classes, viz. : 

I. Ashes; 
II. Garbage; 

III. Rubbish- 

IV. Street- sweepings; 
V. Snow. 

These materials must be brought from the multitudinous 
points of production, by cartage or other means of carriage, 
to central collecting points, from which the materials must 
be again taken to the places for final disposition. The final 
disposition may be effected at the points of central collection, 
if the locations selected be favorable. 

The problem, therefore, embodies a collection, a removal, 
and a disposal, all of which must be done in a sanitary manner, 
with the least handling, and at a cost which shall not be an 
excessive burden on the tax-paying community. The method 
of least cost may not be such as could be entertained, for the 
principles of sanitary disposition, least nuisance, and decency 
always should predominate. 

The characteristics of the general-refuse divisions can be 
stated as follows: 

I. Ashes. — The ash collections are really the refuse from 
the combustion of coal, as burned on grates under boilers, 
kitchen ranges, stoves, house furnaces, and in open fireplaces; 



i6 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

and is that portion of the fuel which falls through the grates 
consisting of ashes, unburned or partially burned fuel, and 
cinder. 

Ashes consist of silica, oxide of iron, potash, alumina, 
lime, magnesia, soda, barium, phosphorus in phosphates, 
sulphur in sulphates, etc., and of unburned coal. 

Ashes weigh about 1,350 pounds per cubic yard, vary- 
ing from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds. 

Ashes can be divided into two grades or classes, viz., '' steam 
ashes" and "household ashes." 

The steam ash is that which is obtained from coal burned 
under steam-boilers, in those industrial works where care is 
taken to have the combustion reasonably perfect. The amount 
of combustible in steam ash varies from about 11 to 50 per 
cent,* increasing as the size of the coal decreases and as the 
coal is of a less caking character. This amount of combustible 
in the steam ash represents a loss of unburned coal in the 
ash ranging from 2 to 33 per cent of the fuel. A fair general 
average could be assumed at 26 per cent by weight of the ash, 
or at 4 per cent of the total coal used. With mechanical- 
stoking grates, for the small sizes of anthracites, and for the an- 
thracites of a friable nature, the amount of combustible in 
the ash probably would exceed the average just stated. For 
the ordinary anthracites the average would approximate 30 
per cent; and for the bituminous coals the average would be 
about 24 per cent. For the caking coals the average would 
be excessive. The loss would also be greater than the above 
average for coals containing large percentages of earthy matter. 

Table II shows the percentage of combustible matter found 
in the ash, as reported in a number of steam-boiler trials, 
being the percentage by difference between the ash as deter- 
mined by analysis and that as recovered from the ash-pit 
and weighed. 

* See "Steam-boilers," by H. de B. Parsons, p. 23. 



WASTE MATERIALS 
Table II 

UNBURNED COAL IN STEAM ASH 



1*7 



Kind of Coal. 


Percentage of Ash. 


Percentage of Com- 
bustible. 












By Analysis. 


By Boiler 


Based on 


Based on 




Trial. 


Ash. 


Coal. 


Cumberland,* Bit ... . 


5-o% 


7-5% 


33 ■ 3% 


2.5% 


Pocahontas,* " 


4.0 


lO.O 


60.0 


6.0 


Cumberland,* " 


6.1 


8.1 


24.7 


2.0 


Clearfield,* 


7.6 


10. 1 


24.7 


2-5 


Cape Breton,* " 


7.8 


9.4 


17.0 


1.6 


George's Creek, t 


9.0 


10.6 


15 I 


1.6 


W. V. Pocahontas,t " 


II . I 


II. 9 


6.7 


0.8 


George's Creek, f '' • . . 


9-3 


10.5 


II. 4 


1 . 2 


Buckwheat No. i,^ Anth 


17-5 


22.5 


22. 2 


50 


Buckwheat No i,t " . • 


16. 2 


24.9 


35 


8.7 


Chestnut No. 2,* '' ... 


12.0 


16.0 


25.0 


4.0 


Chestnut No. 2,* " . . 


II. 8 


193 


38.8 


7-5 


General average 






26% 




Average, Anthracite 






30 
24 




' ' Bituminous 





* See Barrus on "Boiler Tests," p. 251. 



t From tests made by D. S. Jacobus. 



The household ash is that which is obtained from coal 
burned in house-heaters, ranges, stoves, and open fireplaces. 
The coal used is almost entirely of those sizes which will 
pass through a 4j-inch screen and over a ij-inch screen, 
with the exception of the cannel-coal consumed in open fire- 
places. While this cannel naturally would burn to a clean 
ash, still a large quantity will fall through the basket grates; 
and furthermore, since the coal is of so soft a nature, much 
of it will crumble, in handling, into dust and small pieces, 
and be thus rendered too small for household use. All of 
this combustible portion will find its way into the ash col- 
lections. On the continent of Europe, a smaller proportion 
of unburned coal is found in the household-ash collections than 
in the United States, as the use of closed stoves is so common 
for household purposes. In England, the proportion is greater, 
on account of the numerous open fireplaces. 



i8 



DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 



For the past twelve years, the author has kept a complete 
coal record for his private dwelling. The cannel coal dust 
which collected between August, 1896, and August, 1902, and 
which had to be discarded from the house, amounted to 
8.3 per cent of the weight of cannel-coal purchased. Assum- 
ing that this cannel-coal dust contained 4 per cent of true ash, 
then the combustible portion discarded from the house was 
about 8 per cent in addition to that which was contained in 
the ashes from the grates. 

Table III 

ANALYSES OF HOUSEHOLD ASH * 



Coal burned in a stove, anthra- 
cite, size "stove No. 2" 

Coal burned in a hot-air furnace, 
anthracite, size "egg" 

Coal burned in an open grate, Eng- 
lish Cannel, size "6-inch cubes". . 



Moisture 
at 102° C. 



0.36% 

0.06 

0.64 



True Ash. 



90.81% 
86.50 

77-53 



Combustible 
Matter. 



8.83% 

13 -44 
21.83 



Total. 



100.00% 
100.00 
100.00 



ANALYSES OF MIXED ASHES * 



Samples from New York City 

Dumps: 

Clinton Street 

Stanton Street 

West Forty-seventh Street 

Average 



1.69 


62. 19 


0.80 


67 -43 


0.83 


63-73 


I . II 


64-45 



31-77 

35-44 
34-44 



100.00 
100.00 
100.00 
100.00 



* Made for author by Messrs. Simonds and Wainwright. 



The proportion of cannel to anthracite used was i to 7.6, 
or 13 per cent. By analysis, the combustible matter in the 
cannel-coal ashes was 21.8 per cent making a total combus- 
tible of about 29.8 per cent. Also by analysis, the combus- 
tible matter in the anthracite ash was 13.4 per cent. There- 
fore the real average combustible in the ash discarded from 
the house, which can be taken as an average of similar houses 
in the residential portion of New York City, amounted to 
15.3 per cent. 



WASTE MATERIALS 19 

The author had careful analyses made in February and 
March, 1904, of some household ashes and of samples of 
ash obtained directly from some of the dumps of the city 
of New York, with the results as shown in Table III. It 
would, therefore, seem safe to state that in a city Hke New 
York the mixed-ash collections from all quarters contain from 
30 to 35 per cent of combustible matter. 

All the analyses of ash were made by Messrs. Simonds 
and Wainwright, analytical chemists. The samples from the 
city dumps were made, by taking a shovelful from alternate 
carts as they drove on the dumps during the major part of one 
day at a dump. The pile was mixed and quartered, and the 
final sample of 12 to 15 pounds was crushed in a mill and 
again quartered. 

II. Garbage. — Garbage, often referred to as kitchen, 
garbage, swill, or slop, is the waste animal and vegetable 
matter from kitchens, markets, and slaughter-houses. In 
Europe the term " garbage " is frequently used to denote 
the mixed refuse collections, namely, household ash, garbage, 
and rubbish. 

Garbage is, by far, the most important division of general 
refuse, because it is the most difficult to handle without causing 
an annoyance, is unsightly, and is liable to become putrescible 
and dissipate offensive odors. On the other hand, it has a 
distinct commercial value, due to the value of the by-products 
which may be obtained from it. Whether this value is worth 
saving in practice is still a mooted question, and no unity of 
sentiment exists, although much has been written concerning 
its treatment. 

Its composition differs according to the season of the 
year, as well as the location of the city and the character of 
the district from which it was collected. Garbage contains 
a large proportion of water, the amount varying from about 
50 per cent to over 80 per cent. During the fruit and green- 
vegetable seasons the amount of water is always large, while 



20 



DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 



in the ordinary dwelling-house garbage in winter the amount 
would be nearer the lower limit. 



Table IV 

ANALYSES OF GARBAGE 



Water 

Animal and vegeta- 
ble solids 

Grease 

Paper 

Rags, etc 

Boxes 

Mineral matter. . . . 

Total 

Fat 

Total nitrogen 

Phosphoric acid, 



City of 

New 

York. 

A 



65 90% 
2^. 62 



p,o. 



Potash, K^O 



100.00% 
7.07 
0.86 

0.07 
0.30 



City 

of. 

Brooklyn. 

B 



71.00% 

20.00 
2.00 



7.00 



100.00% 



City 

of 

Trenton. 

C 



80.00% 
16.80 



2.40 1 
0.60 ^ 
0.20 J 



100.00% 



United 
States. 

D 



70.00% 

20.00 
3.00 

7.00, 



roo.00% 



England. 
E 



Berlin. 
F 



65.00% 

24.00 
2.00 

9.00 



60 . 00% 

30.00 
2.00 

8 00 



roo.00% 



100.00% 



A. Dept. of Health, Oct. It, 1897. 

B. Report, Brooklyn Board of Health, 1896. 

C. Trans. Am. Soc. C. E.. Vol. L. p. 128. 

D. International Engineering Congress, St. Louis, Am. Soc. C. E., 1904. 
E and F. Ditto. 



In Table IV are given some analyses of the composition 
of garbage. Analysis A was made by the Sanitary Bureau 
of the Board of Health of the City of New York, in October, 
1897. The sample was taken from the garbage as received 
on the barges or scows for final removal, and may be con- 
sidered an average of the collections from many and various 
sources. It was practically pure garbage. 

Analysis B is an analysis of Brooklyn summer garbage, 
as stated in the report of Joseph B. Taylor, Board of Health 
report, Brooklyn, 1896. 

Analysis C was made by Theodore Horton, Assoc. M. 
Am. Soc. C. E., of garbage as collected in Trenton, N. J., 



WASTE MATERIALS 21 

during the summer of 1902. It was obtained by sorting one- 
half ton samples and weighing and averaging. 

Analysis D gives the composition of average American 
garbage, as stated by MacI>onough Craven. 

Analyses E and F are quoted on the authority of Rudolph 
Hering, who obtained his figures from W. F. Goodrich of 
London, and Messrs. Bohm and Crohn of Berlin. 

All the figures in the table are given in percentages, and 
do not indicate more than the relative proportions of the ele- 
ments reported. The actual quantities collected in certain 
cities are stated at the end of the chapter. 

Carbage, as ordinarily collected, contains some rubbish, 
such as paper, cans, boxes, etc. Even in those cities where 
a primary separation system is in vogue, this admixture of 
rubbish may amount to five or six per cent or more by weight. 

Pure garbage weighs about 1,100 to 1,200 pounds per cubic 
yard, when loosely collected. 

As a mass of garbage is so rich in organic matter of an 
unstable nature, it will rapidly decompose, especially in warm 
weather. If allowed to collect, the mass will break down 
and generate disagreeable and offensive odors. 

III. Rubbish. — Rubbish is discarded trash, composed prin- 
cipally of all kinds of paper, wood, rags, mattresses, bedding, 
boxes, chairs, sofas, barrels, leather, old shoes, rubber, tin cans, 
metal scraps, bottles, broken glass, crockery, and the like. It 
is a most heterogeneous aggregation, and contains all the 
household wastes that cannot be classified under ashes or garb- 
age. Every conceivable kind of rubbish waste is discarded 
from the houses or found in the street sweepings; but the 
distinction between these classes of refuse is that such of the 
material as is collected from the houses strictly belongs to the 
rubbish classification, and such as is obtained from the streets 
to the street-sweeping classification. 

Rubbish weighs from 130 to 225 pounds per cubic yard, as 
ordinarily piled in the carts without extra packing. In Boston, 



2 2 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

Massachusetts, the average weight, as delivered to the Atlantic 
Avenue collecting and incinerating station, v^as 202 pounds 
per cubic yard. In New York, the average weight per cubic 
yard at the Thirtieth Street dump, was 143 pounds; at the 
Forty-seventh Street dump, 141. i pounds; and at the Delancey 
Slip Incinerator, 139 pounds. 

As rubbish contains the dirt and dust from sweepings, 
cast-away bedding, and rags, it is liable to harbor germs of 
disease, and should be taken as direct as possible to the place 
for final disposition, so that dry, germ-bearing dust may not 
be scattered among the people of the community. In other 
respects, the rubbish collections may be termed clean, and are 
not especially disagreeable to handle. 

Some analyses of rubbish are given in Table V. The 
statements in the first column are measurements made by 
the author in 1905; and in the second and third columns by 
F. W. Stearns, of the Department of Street Cleaning of the City 
of New York, in 1904. These figures, together with those for 
Boston, are the percentages by weight of the marketable por- 
tions only, that is, that portion which was picked out and 
sold. The balance was valueless and was not classified, but 
was composed of the same elements as mentioned, together 
with bedding, mattresses, furniture, etc. 

The smell arising from a collection of rubbish is not offen- 
sive, and the mass does not decompose. At times the collec- 
tions contain some garbage, which on decomposing will give 
the mass a decided smell 

Rubbish, like garbage, has an inherent value. A con- 
siderable portion of the mass can be sorted out and sold at a 
profit. In consequence, the collections are often picked over, 
for which privilege contractors can be found. This work 
is generally done by Itahans, and their ''finds" occasionally 
include money and jewelry. Three pearl studs were once found 
by one of these "pickers" or "trimmers" in the presence of 
the author. 



WASTE MATERIALS 



23 



Table V 

COMPOSITION OF RUBBISH 

(In percentage by weight.) 



Component Parts. 



Stoneware 

Rags 

Rubber 

Leather 

Straw 

Wood 

Metals 

Glass 

Bagging 

Carpets 

Shoes 

Hats 

Rope and string. 
Paper 

Newspaper. . . 

Manilla 

Pasteboard. . . 

Mixed 

Books 



Total marketable . 
* * worthless. . . 

Total 



Percentage Picked out as 
Marketable. 



City of New York. 



De lan- 
ce y Slip 

Station 
(Par- 
sons) 



4.60 



0.86 



25.40 



30.86 
69.14 



100.00 



Thir- 
tieth 
Street 
Dump 
,Stearns) 



7-3 
1-3 
1.4 



23-3 



43-3 
56.7 



Forty- 
seventh 
Street 
Dump 
(Stearns) 



2.78 



8.91 
4. 10 
0.76 
0-39 
0-57 

0-39 
0.03 
0.23 



10.94 
2.64 

IO-35 
6.16 

0-55 



48.80 
51.20 



100.00 



Boston 
Atlantic 
Avenue 
Station 
(Morse) 



Percentage of Total 
Composition. 



0.76 



0. 12 

0-35 



o. 12 
23.90 



o. 24 



25-49 
74-51 



100.00 



New 

York 

(Craven) 



15-5 
O. I 

1.8 



1-4 

3-3 
2.9 



75-0 



100. o 



London 

(Russell) 
* 



5-0 
3-6 



29.7 



9-2 
13 I 



39-4 



100. o 



Berlin 
(Bohm 

and 
(Grohn) 



33 
6 



3 

19 

2 

4 
7 



233 



100. o 



* International Engineering Congress Am. Soc. C. E.. 1904. Paper by Rudolph 
Hering. 

The privilege for picking the rubbish at the dumps in 
the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx brought $71,000 
for 1903. For a week in 1904 the amounts varied from $1,175 
to $1,920. The collections in 1903 were 126,188 tons. 

At the Atlantic Avenue incinerating plant in Boston, the 
amount picked out and sold averages about 25 J per cent by 
weight. In New York at the Thirtieth Street dump, the 
amount is about 43 per cent; at the Forty-seventh Street dump 



24 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

about 48 per cent; and at the Delancey Slip station about 32 
per cent. These latter two places and the Atlantic Avenue 
plant are equipped with conveyors which carry the material 
between the rows of pickers As the Delancey Slip station is 
equipped with an incinerating plant, using the heat for steam 
generation, only about 30 per cent is picked out, as the re- 
mainder is required for fuel, although with the conveyor and 
sorting opportunity it would be easy to pick out 50 per cent. 

The amount picked out varies with the market price for 
the paper, metals, etc. At ordinary city dumps, where no 
facilities for picking are provided, the percentage sorted out 
is not so large as just stated. 

rV. Street-sweepings . — Street-sweepings are the waste 
materials collected in the city streets. The material so col- 
lected differs both in quantity and quality, according to the 
characteristics of the place considered. It varies with the 
occupation and mode of living of the people, with the kinds 
of pavement in use, with the method of collection of the other 
wastes, and the care taken by contractors in building operations. 

The sweepings contain two constituents of value, namely, 
manure and paper. When these are mixed with the street 
dirt, they are valueless. If the manure could be collected 
separately, it might be sold for fertilizer, or be sold to the 
collectors of stable manures for the same purpose. Some of the 
paper is salable, if it could be collected without being mixed with 
the manure and other dirt. The cost of separation is usually 
prohibitive, except on certain kinds of smooth-surface pavements. 

Considerable rubbish, often of the dirtiest sort, is found 
in public thoroughfares, where it has been thrown by a careless 
and shiftless population. This rubbish, manure, paper, and 
dirt, which latter comes from the pavements, and, therefore, 
varies with the kind in use, form the major part of the street- 
sweepings proper. There are some house sweepings collected 
in the streets, but this addition aggregates but a small part. 
In cities whose streets are lined with trees, a considerable 



WASTE MATERIALS 



25 



quantity of leaves is collected in the proper season, which 
materially increases the bulk, but adds httle to the weight. 

In cities which permit a building contractor to use a por- 
tion of the street for the storage of material and for piling 
the building waste, the amount of street-sweepings is increased, 
because the city sweepers remove a considerable proportion 
of such wastes. Although the contractor is required to remove 
his own waste, practically the general taxpayer is charged for 
the removal of some of this material. It would seem feasible to 
charge a building fee for the permit to make use of the street, 
so as to cover, at least in part, the removal of this class of 
material, which is surely left for city removal. 

Street-sweepings are not suitable for land filling, as they 
contain putrescible organic matter and disease germs. When 
thrown into fills the material, being kept from the oxygen in 
the air, decomposes slowly, which process is liable to create 
odors and smells for a long period. Table VI gives some 
idea of the composition of street-sweepings. 

Table VI 

COMPOSITION OF STREET-SWEEPINGS * 

(In percentages by weight.) 



Component Parts. 



Moisture. . 

Organic matter 

Ash 

Total 

Proportion of organic matter 
to ash 



New York 
(Craven). 



37 
32 



I : I 



Washington 
(Wiley). 



35 
20 

45 



1:2.2 



Berlin 
(Vogel). 



39 

23 

38 



100 



1:1.6 



London 
(Lethe by ).t 



35 
36 
29J 



100 



I :o. 



* From U. S. Dept. of Agriculture; "Fertilizing Value of Street-sweepings," Bul- 
letin No. 55, Division of Chemistry, 
t In dry weather. 
t Powdered stone and abraded iron. 

The sweepings are combustible. The weight varies from 
800 to 1,400 pounds per cubic yard, as much depends on the 
dryness of the weather when collected. 



26 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

General Refuse Collection. 

The author corresponded with a number of cities in order 
to obtain data in regard to the annual collection of general 
refuse. It was found that many of the cities did not make 
separate collections of the different classes of refuse, and that 
many which did make separate collections did not keep records, 
or if they did keep records, did not keep them sufficiently 
accurate as to be of service for comparison. 

For instance, the city of Louisville published in 1903 a 
very elaborate report, in which the collections were given in 
cart-loads. As no reference was made with regard to the 
size of the carts, or their average loading, it was not possible 
to classify these collections. 

Some of the cities kept a record in yardage, and in order 
to transform such records into weight the following schedule 
was used. 

Weight of garbage ij^So pounds per cubic yard. 

" " street-sweepings 850 

' ashes i'35o 



" ashes 1,350 " " " 

" rubbish 200 " " '' 



In Table VII there is given statistics as regards the annual 
collection of general refuse in tons of 2,000 pounds. 

In Table VIII are given the monthly collections, in pounds 
per capita per day, in those cities where the records were 
available. This table shows some variation in regard to the 
amounts, especially noticeable in the column, " Average per 
day." This variation is caused to seme extent by the irregu- 
larity of classifying the collections — for instance, in some, 
rubbish and ashes are collected with the garbage — thus, in 
Philadelphia, the record shows that the amount of garbage 
per capita per day is nearly 1.2 pounds, while in the other 
cities it varies from about 0.3 to 0.8 pounds, while the ashes 
and rubbish collections are low compared to the others. 



WASTE MATERIALS 



27 



Table VII 

ANNUAL COLLECTION OF CITY REFUSE, IN TONS OF 2 ,000 LBS. 



City. 


Year 
Population. 


Garbage. 


Street - 
sweepings 


Ashes. 


Rubbish. 


Totals. 


Bor. of Manh. . 
" ' Bronx 
" " B'klyn 

Total of three 

Boroughs 

New York. . . 


1,917,676 
268,341 

1,291,597 

A 

in igo3. 

3,477,614 


184,275 
13,475 
75,675 

273,425 


B 


1,405,606 
109,6991 
5oi,888i 
D 

2,0x7,193! 


120,434 

5,754 
39,246 
C 

165,434 


1,710,315 
128,928 
616,809 

2,456,053 


Buffalo, N. Y. 


3oJunei903 
f- 391,148 


F 23,803 


B 


F 150,469 


F 15,750 


190,022 


Philadelphia, Pa 
H 


31 Dec. I go 3 

1,385,549 
E 


301,643 


93,044 


425,650 


13,975 


834,312 


Milwaukee, Wis 
H 


^ 307,854 


K3o,44i 










Cincinnati, O. . 
H 


I go 3 
381,200 


2i,6co 


39,362 


142,507 






Washington, 
D. C. 


3rDec.igo3 

K 296,182 


M33,664 


L 31,810 


L 83,078 


L 14,150 


162,702 


Newark, N. J. . 
H 


E 272,149 


15,152 


33,496 


G 208,050 


G 


256,698 


Cleveland, O. .. 
J 


T Dec. igo4 
425,000 


43,680 


35,036 








Pittsburg, Pa. . 


320,000 


047,000 










St. Louis, Mo. . 


?T Dec. I go 3 
F 622,350 


62,400 




N 


N 





A. Board of Health Census, Tgo3. 

B. Street-sweepings included in "ashes."' 

C. The City Dept. of Street Cleaning estimates the w^eight of a cubic yard of rubbish 

and paper at 237 pounds. Fred. L. Steams measured and weighed g6 loads, 
in which a yard weighed 140 pounds. This figure has been used to reduce 
the yardage to pounds — one load = i ,000 pounds. 

D. Inchiding ''steam ' ashes from manufacturing plants. 

E. U. S. Census. 

P From Report of Dept. of Public Works. BufiFalo, igo3. 

G. Rubbish and pat>er included in ashes. 

H. Bureau of Street Cleaning or Board of Public Works, year 1903. 

T. Bureau of Street Cleaning or Board of Public Works, year 1904. 

K. Average for 1901 and 1903. 

L. Average for 1903-1004. 

M. Garbage for igo3; street-sweepings, ashes, and rubbish averaged for 1903-1904. 

N Collections not made bv the city. 

O. Contractor's statement for 1903 



28 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

The average collections per capita per day, for the cities 
mentioned, are given in Table IX. 

The figures given in Table VIII for the monthly collec- 
tions of general refuse, in pounds per capita per day, are shown 
graphically in Fig. i. 

In the same manner, Figs. 2 to 4 show graphically the 
collections of ashes, garbage, and rubbish. These diagrams 
all show a characteristic maximum at about January and a 
minimum at about August. These maxima and minima are 
evidently caused by the collection of ashes, because the rub- 
bish collections, while much more uniform than garbage or 
ashes, are in maximum during the summer months, and the 
garbage is in maximum about September. 

In Fig. 5 are shown the monthly collections in pounds per 
capita per day for the Borough of Manhattan, City of New 
York. 

In studying these figures it must be borne in mind that 
the ash collections, as reported in the Borough of Manhattan, 
City of New York, also contain the street-sweepings. The 
curve, therefore, representing Manhattan in Fig. 2 is too high 
by just the amount of street-sweepings, which are not reported 
separately. In the same manner, in Fig. 3, the curve repre- 
senting garbage collections for Philadelphia is too high, as 
some rubbish and ashes are collected and reported under the 
head of Garbage. 

In Fig. I, the curve representing Manhattan (as well as 
the figures in Table VIII for the Borough of Manhattan) is 
higher than those of the other cities reported, which can be 
accounted for by the fact that the territory of the Borough 
of Manhattan is completely built over, and the whole popu- 
lation is served by the collection-carts. In the other cities 
there are outlying districts which are included in the popu- 
lation, but which are not served by the collection -carts. It is 
therefore probable that the actual figures for Manhattan are 
more accurate than those for some of the other places. 



WASTE MATERIALS 



29 



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DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 






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32 



DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 



Table IX 

AVERAGE COLLECTIONS PER CAPITA PER DAY 



Garbage 

Street-sweepings, 

Ashes 

Rubbish 

Total 



Pounds. 



0.5296 

0-5310 
2 . 4960 

o. 1948 



3-7514 



Yards. 



o . 000460 
0.000625 
0.001849 
0.000974 



o . 003908 



Percentage. 



By Weight. By Volume 



14. 12 

14-15 
66.54 

5-19 



I 00 . 00 



11.77 
15-99 
47-31 
24-93 



100.00 



The above table was made by taking the averages of the figures in Table 
VIII. Some of the cities collected two of the divisions together, and gave 
the result under one division; thus, New York collected the street-sweepings 
and ashes together, and gave the total as ashes. 

The following table was made up by using the above percentages to divide 
such double collections, and gives the averages for all the cities. It is, there- 
fore, more nearly correct than the above. 



Garbage 

Street -sweepings 

Ashes 

Rubbish. , 

Total 



Pounds. 



0.5296 
0.4992 
2 .2290 
0.2101 



3 4679 



Yards. 



o . 000460 
0.000587 
0.001696 
0.001050 



0-003793 



Percentage. 



By Weight. 



15-27 

14-39 

64.28 

6.06 



100.00 



By Volume. 



12. 13 
15.48 
44.71 
27.68 



100.00 



WASTE MATERIALS 



33 



6.0 
- llanhattan 



Philadelphia 

Bronx 

Buffalo 

Brooklyn 




Fig. I. — General Refuse in Pounds per Capita per Day. 



WASTE MATERIALS 



35 



Manhattan 




Brooklyn 
Buffalo 



Philadelphia 
2,0 



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U 


p 


>, 


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•-5 



¥lG. 2. — Ashes in Pounds per Capita per Day. 



WASTE MATERIALS 



37 




1.0 

Philadelphia 



Milwaukee 
Washiogton 0.5 

Manhattan 



"Fig. 3. — Garbage in Pounds per Capita per Day. 



Manhattan 




Philadelphia 



> 9. 1^ 

^ P ^ 



Fig. 4. — Rubbish in Pounds per Capita per Day. 



WASTE MATERIALS 



39 



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Jan. 



Mar. 



May 



July 



Sept. 



Nov. 



Jan. 



Fig. 5. — General Refuse in Pounds per Capita per Day. Borough of Man- 
hattan, City of New York, Year, 1903. 



CHAPTER IV 

COLLECTIONS 

Primary Separation. Carts. Central Receiving Station. Tipples and 
Dumping-boards. Sorting and Trimming. 

As the broad question of final disposition embodies the 
collection of the refuse, the engineer or the authorities must 
begin the study at the point of its origin. The sanitary demands 
can be fulfilled, provided the individuals of the community 
can be educated to observe the necessary regulations, and 
the cost is not so excessive as to cause a breakdown in the 
system selected. While a sanitary disposal is important, both 
from the standpoints of health and annoyance, it is self-evi- 
dent that the net cost must not be excessive. In practice, a 
too expensive system might cause a partial or complete rejec- 
tion, and probably a return to some more primitive and less 
sanitary method of collecting and disposing of the materials. 
It must be borne in mind that the municipahty, proposing 
to adopt some disposal system, is an estabhshed community 
with certain habits and characteristics more or less deeply 
rooted; and that innovations cannot be quickly introduced, 
if they be of too radical a nature. The problem, indeed, 
would be simple if the proper system could be adopted at 
the time of the city's inception. Unfortunately, such a Euto- 
pian state of affairs only could be realized, with due regard 
to human enthusiasm and the air-castles of enthusiasts, in 
but a limited number of communities. Here, again, appears 

41 



42 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

the practical side with its low first cost, as against the more 
scientific side with its greater first cost, even though the latter 
offers better sanitation and increased comfort and decency. 

The origin of the refuse is in the streets, the houses, the 
hostelries, the stores, and the industrial establishments. 

A portion is both collected and disposed of by the munici- 
pality. Another portion is collected and cared for by pri- 
vate enterprise, but turned over for final disposition to the 
municipality at some public collection point, or central station 
for the district. Therefore, all of the material collected under 
the two classes becomes a public burden for final disposition. 

In the major number of large American cities, the private 
collections are much favored in many districts, because of 
the more satisfactory house service and the greater control 
possessed by the householders over the removal of the mate- 
rial from their premises. The objection raised against private 
collection is that the house is taxed for a public collection, so 
that the expense of a private collection is a double burden. 
On the other hand, if a complete public collection is made, 
the amount of taxes would be increased. After its removal 
from the house, the source of origin, the interest of the average 
house-owner ceases. 

On account of its unstable nature, garbage is so much the 
most troublesome of all the refuse materials, that the first 
effort is to get rid of it as quickly as possible. In consequence, 
some cities simply provide a public method for garbage dis- 
posal, collecting from ihose districts which do not provide 
private collections for themselves. The municipal cost of 
garbage collection varies in New York from 14 to 23 cents 
per capita per annum, but a large portion of the residential 
section collects its own garbage at private expense. 

If, however, a systematic plan of disposal is to be adopted, 
then the method should commence with the collections from 
the houses and streets, in order that each detail should con- 
tribute its share toward the final sanitary disposal of all the 



COLLECTIONS 43 

general refuse materials to be handled, without causing any- 
undue annoyance. 

The several kinds of general refuse materials may be either 
separated or combined by the householder. If a separation 
system be adopted, the householder must place into different 
receptacles the ash, the garbage, and the rubbish. If a com- 
bined system be adopted, there is no need for different recep- 
tacles. If once combined, however, it is practically impossible 
to effect a subsequent separation. The separation system 
for the garbage is absolutely essential, if the garbage is to go 
to a reduction works for purposes of extracting the grease 
and the other salable products it may contain. Furthermore, 
if the garbage be freed from the ashes and rubbish, the volume 
of material, which must be carted away quickly and regularly, 
is greatly reduced and the work facilitated during periods 
when the streets are blocked by storms and snow. During 
such periods, the removal of the ash and rubbish collections 
could be somewhat delayed without detriment; but if the 
garbage be not removed while fresh, it will decompose, create 
smells, and be more offensive than ever. The handling of the 
garbage collections would be simplified if the daily amounts 
were only more unifoim in quantity. In the Borough of 
Manhattan, City of New York, the maximum daily collection 
of garbage is about 1,100 tons, the minimum 220 tons, while 
the average is about 610 tons. The amounts are also variable 
from year to year. 

The choice of the system for collection, either the separa- 
tion or the combined system, depends chiefly on two considera- 
tions — first, the method for final disposition; and, second, 
whether any of the revenues that may be obtained from the 
value of the merchantable portion shall be credited. 

There does not appear to be any rule for guidance, as 
much depends on the amount of the merchantable portion, and 
whether there is any near-by market for the stuff after it has 
been sorted. In some cities, the rubbish contains much that is 



44 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

of value, while in others the return for the sorting would not 
pay for the labor and trouble. Each place must, therefore, 
solve its own problem as to the adoption of separate or com- 
bined collections, remembering that the primary separation 
is the fundamental step necessary, if any revenue is sought 
from the directly merchantable portion of the refuse. 

In Europe, the practice of combined collections for all 
kinds of general refuse, except the steam-ash and street- 
sweepings, appears to be growing; and, in those places which 
finally dispose of the materials by incineration, this combined 
collection gives good results, as judged by reports and pub- 
lished statements. The combined system certainly has the 
advantage of simplicity. In England, it is customary to throw 
the whole of the household refuse into a receptacle, known 
as the ash-bin or ash-pit, from which the refuse obtains its 
name. This ash-bin refuse is collected in a mixed state and 
used for filling, or for fuel in a destructor. 

The amount of garbage is considerably less than that of 
the rubbish, street-sweepings and ashes, amounting to, say, 
one-seventh of the collections by weight, so that the question 
of long and short haulage will enter the problem at this point. 
If it be possible to finally dispose of the rubbish, sweepings, 
and ashes at a short-haul point, while the garbage must be 
disposed of at a long-haul point, then the separation system, 
at least for the garbage, offers decided advantages. Under 
such conditions the other wastes may be combined or separated. 
If separated, the ash is available, and perhaps salable, for 
filling purposes, as it is clean and freed from unsightly matter; 
and the rubbish for sorting, the merchantable portion being 
sold and the unmerchantable portion burned. The ash from 
the rubbish can be added to the ash-collections, or perhaps be 
used as a fertilizer for trees and grass, due to the large quantity 
of potash contained. 

The consideration of a long and short haul, furthermore, 
is affected by the bulkiness of the rubbish, since, even in a 



COLLECTIONS 45 

packed condition, one ton of the mass occupies a space of 1 50 
to 200 cubic feet. 

If all the collections are to be incinerated, there is no ap- 
parent advantage in separation beyond the credit obtainable, 
if any, from the salable portion of the refuse. The market- 
able portion of the rubbish will be reduced in both value and 
quantity on account of its mixture with the garbage and ashes. 
With final disposition by incineration, the steam-ash, however, 
should be separately collected. The steam-ash is clean, and its 
separation would reduce the quantity of material to be handled 
by incineration. 

The receptacles for the house- collections should be of some 
sanitary form, and, for convenience in emptying the contents 
into the collection-carts, should be of as uniform a size and 
character as possible, and be made slightly conical. 

As the dust from the collections is objectionable, and, when 
blown about by the wind, becomes a cause of annoyance, the 
receptacles should be fitted with covers. If the householders 
are permitted to stand these receptacles on the sidewalk, 
covers should be insisted on by regulation. It would be better 
to have all such receptacles kept off the public walks, and have 
the receptacles, when filled and ready for collection, placed 
within the area or stoop line. It requires more labor on the 
part of the collector, but the benefit would, no doubt, offset 
this disadvantage by improving the unsightly appearance of 
the street, and by diminishing the danger of having receptacles 
overturned accidentally or maliciously. 

Receptacles for ashes can be made in any convenient form, 
but are preferably of galvanized iron or other suitable metal 
as a precaution against fire, and should not be so large as to 
be too heavy for one man to properly lift and empty into a cart. 

Receptacles for garbage should be water-tight, and made of 
galvanized iron or other suitable metal. In places so situated 
that a cold climate can be anticipated for a prolonged period, 
receptacles of wood are frequently preferred to those of metal, 



46 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

as being the more easily handled and less liable to have the 
material freeze fast to the sides. 

Receptacles for rubbish can be of any convenient form and 
material. As this form of waste is readily combustible, and 
might contain matches carelessly dropped, those of some suit- 
able metal are preferred as a precaution against fire. 

The primary collections are made by carts, usually drawn 
by one or two horses, although automobile collection-carts may 
form an important part of the equipment in the future. 

These carts may be of any design that may prove durable 
and be suitable to the locality. For convenience in emptying, 
they should be of a type that can readily dump their loads. 
The ash and garbage carts should be made water-tight, covered, 
and of metal so as to present smooth surfaces for cleaning. 
The rubbish-carts need not necessarily be covered, as the 
material is dry and does not pack close; and, if there be no 
cover, a superload can be carried without creating too much 
overload in weight. Furthermore, covers interfere with carry- 
ing ungainly pieces, as old sofas, bedding, packing-cases, and 
barrels. 

If there is no primary separation of the material, but a 
combined collection of the household ash, garbage, and rubbish, 
the carts can be of any suitable and durable design, although 
preferably water-tight, covered, and with metallic bodies. 

While the covers are of benefit from the view-points of 
decency and dust prevention, they are somewhat troublesome 
to handle, and the men are delayed in making their collections 
by having to open and shut them continually. They are 
heavy if made strong, and add complication and increased 
repairs. Pieces of canvas as covers have not proved entirely 
satisfactory for use in large cities, but can be made to give 
good service. 

In the city of New York, at the time of this writing, the 
primary separation system is in use. The city makes the col- 
lections of ashes, garbage and rubbish free of expense to the 




Fig. 6. — Ash- or Garbage-cart with Canvas Cover. 




Fig. 7. — Garbage-cart with SUding Cover. 



47 




Fig. 8. — Garbage-cart with Sliding Cover in Dumping Position. 




Fig. 9. — Large Metallic Garbage-cart. 



49 




Fig. io. — Rubbish- or Paper-cart. 




Fig. II. — Flushing a Street with Hose. 



51 



COLLECTIONS 53 

householder, akhough the steam-ashes, and a large proportion 
of the ash, garbage, and rubbish from the best residential dis- 
tricts, are carted to the city's dumping boards, at the central 
collection stations, by individuals working under private con- 
tracts, to whom licenses have been issued by the authorities. 
The general types of collection-carts operated by the city 
Department of Street Cleaning are shown in Figs. 6 to lo, 
and can be taken as examples of good modern standards for 
such vehicles. Fig. 6 shows a steel-body cart with a canvas 
cover, suitable for ash or garbage collections. Fig. 7 shows 
a steel-body cart with a double sliding cover for loading, while 
Fig. 8 shows the same cart in the position of dumping with 
the rear hinged cover open. Fig. 9 shows a larger form of 
roller-top steel cart for garbage, similar to Fig. 7. Fig. 10 
shows a cart for the rubbish collections. These carts are 
generally equipped with extended sides, as can be seen in 
Figs. 7 and 8. 

The carts employed for street-sweepings should be covered. 
The problem of sweeping clean the streets is certainly trouble- 
some, but one which could be made much easier if the inhab- 
itants would only exercise some little care and individual assist- 
ance. The composition of the sweeping contains always a 
certain amount of organic material, so that this waste is of 
an unstable nature; and, from the conditions under which 
it is collected, the dust is extremely liable to carry with it 
those disease germs which are not infrequently the cause of 
epidemics. Most stringent methods should be rigidly en- 
forced against the filthy habit of expectorating on the side- 
walks. "Those who expect to rate as gentlemen should not 
expectorate in public." The sputum contains germs of sick- 
ness, which collect on the dust particles, and are blown in 
people's faces and carried on their clothes into their homes. 

During periods of heavy rains, much of the street dirt is 
carried off into the sewers. During dry seasons, the streets 
can be flushed, except during periods of lack of water supply. 



54 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

Flushing is most effective when the pavements have a smooth 
surface, such as asphalt, but is of little use on cobble-stones. 
Fig. II shows a street being flushed with hose attached to the 
fire hydrants. Fig. 12 shows a street flushing wagon operated 
by a gasolene engine. Fig. 13 shows a street-flushing wagon 
operated by compressed air. The flushing water could con- 
tain a cheap disinfectant, although the benefit is doubtful and 
necessitates the use of a flushing cart. The most effective 
method is to flush under pressure through hose attached to 
the hydrants, as the stream can be easily directed where most 
wanted. The objection is the injury to the fire-plugs by 
careless handling, and the danger of splashing pedestrians. 
The streets, however, can be flushed at night. 

The material is generally collected by sweeping and scrap- 
ing by hand. Fig. 14 shows a portable can equipped with a self- 
dumping receiving-can. Fig. 15 shows a handcart for collect- 
ing paper, leaves, and light stuff. Fig. 16 shows a mechanical 
brush sweeper. Horse sweeping-machines are in use. Fig. 17, 
but they create great dust-clouds, and are objectionable on 
that account. In dry weather, the sweeping should be preceded 
by sprinkling. When the sweepings are brushed up into heaps 
they should be removed at once. If left, the passing vehicles 
and wind will scatter the material, and the labor will be fruitless. 
The sweepings and collections should be at intervals, chosen 
to suit the locality, the traffic, and the pavement. In some 
cities, such as Paris, the sweepings are brushed into the gutters, 
and then flushed into the sewers by water from neighboring 
hydrants, usually during the early morning hours. 

The collection carts and cans for street- sweepings are of 
various designs, and there is no recognized type in use. The 
sweepings have been placed in canvas sacks, tied up, and left 
on one side for the collection- cart to remove. These sacks 
can be emptied, dried, and used again. These sacks are 
shown in Fig. 18, filled with street manure, and being packed 
on a scow for transportation and sale. When the sweepings 







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Fig. 13. — Street-flushing Wagon Operated by Compressed Air. 

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Fig. 14. — Portable Can for Street-sweeping. Washington, D. C. 




Fig. 15. — Hand-cart for Paper and Leaves. Washington, D. C. 

59 



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Fig. i6. — Mechanical Brush Sweeper. Washington, D. C. 




Fig. 17. — Horse Sweeping-machine. 



61 




Fig. i8. — Street-sweepings Bagged for Removal and Sale. 




AMD ., • • * 



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Fig. iq. — Sidewalk Cans for Paper, Fruit-skins, etc. 



63 




Fig. 20. — Sunken Sidewalk Can. 




Fig. 21. — Can-cart for Street-sweepings. 



6S 



COLLECTIONS 67 

are directly collected into carts, the carts should be 
covered. 

In communities where the people are in the habit of littering 
the streets with paper, fruit-skins, and the like, metal receptacles 
placed on the walks to receive them are of value, Fig. 19. 
These receptacles are about 24 inches high, oval in section, with 
diameters 22 and 16 inches, and have quarter spherical fixed 
covers. The collection-carts empty these receptacles when 
making their tour. 

Each street-sweeper should have a territory of street to 
keep clean. He should brush, scrape, and pick up all material 
and place it in his can. On streets where the traffic renders 
the portable can-carrier a nuisance, the cans can be sunk in 
the sidewalk, Fig. 20. On very crowded streets, a can-cart, 
Fig. 21, can be used, with sufficient crew to let it pass along 
with the traffic and still brush or scrape the street and fill 
the cans. 

The collection-cart can be similar to the ash-carts, and 
should follow, so as to empty the portable cans and sunken 
sidewalk-cans, as well as the sidewalk- cans for paper and fruit- 
skins. 

When the general refuse materials are collected in the 
carts, they are brought to city dumping boards or tipples at 
conveniently located central receiving-stations. The designs 
are best made to suit the locality. These dumping boards are 
frequently necessary to elevate the carts sufficiently to permit 
the loads to dump by gravity into scows, barges, or cars for 
removal to places for final disposition. As the dust arising 
from the dumping of ashes and street-sweepings is an annoyance, 
even if not considered as an unhealthy nuisance, it is advisable 
to have the dumping boards housed over. If deemed advisa- 
ble, it is possible to have the carts pass under a perforated 
pipe, from which the material can receive a shower of water. 
The inclined ramp, leading to the dumping platform, should 
not have a rise exceeding one vertical in ten horizontal, or it 



68 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

will be difficult for the horses to pull their loads up. A less 
steep incline would be better, but cannot be adopted in many 
places on account of the distance required. When the dump- 
ing board is constructed of wood, a common design is shown 
in Fig. 22. 

Metal pockets, similar to coal pockets, have been used 
to store the collected materials,- from which they can be drawn 
off through chutes into the receiving barges or cars, as required, 
without interfering with the delivery. These metallic, elevated 
storage bins have not been generally adopted. As there is 
always some material in them, they are difficult to clean out. 

Major Woodbury instituted, in Brooklyn in 1903, a system 
of steel bins at some of the receiving stations, into which the 
carts empty their loads of ashes. These bins are then removed 
during the night-time, on flat cars drawn over the tracks of 
the street-car lines to branch switch-tracks at places for final 
disposition for filling in low ground or marshes. The ash- 
collections, being freed from the rubbish and garbage, are 
especially suitable for this purpose. This system is illustrated 
in Figs. 23, 24, 25, and 26. 

However arranged, the central receiving-stations should 
be enclosed in buildings. The collection-carts find their way 
to them from all directions, and create an unattractive traffic. 
If these carts could drive into a building, dump their loads 
out of the public view, and drive away empty through another 
exit, the oft-repeated objections to such receiving-stations 
would be largely removed. In the work of city scavenging, 
the minority must always suffer somewhat for the benefit 
of the majority, although in many little ways their grievances 
can be lessened. 

Sorting over, or " trimming,** as it is sometimes called, 
the general refuse, especially the rubbish, as it is brought to 
these central receiving- stations, can be made a source of con- 
siderable revenue, provided the amount of material is suffi- 
ciently large, and provided the city is so located as to support 




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Fig. 23. — Bin for Removal of Ash Collections. 




Fig. 24. — Bins loaded on a Trolley Car. 



71 




Fig. 2S- — Unloadinoj Bins from Car. 




Fig. 26. — Dumping the Bins. 



73 



COLLECTIONS 7$ 

a ready market for the material thus saved. The ashes, garbage, 
and street-sweepings are generally not worth sorting, although 
the garbage as collected in many localities does contain enough 
bottles, cans, and the like to occasionally make trimming 
profitable. The rubbish collections are by far the most 
valuable in this particular. 

This sorting is probably best performed by letting the 
privilege to a contractor, who will furnish his own labor, 
remove his selected material, and pay the city for the right. 
His profit is obtained from the sale of the material his men 
can save. If means are provided at the station for a careful 
sorting, the returns to the city will be largely enhanced, as 
the contractor will pay more for the privilege. For this pur- 
pose, the material can be made to travel along a belt- con- 
veyor between rows of pickers, whose duties are to select the 
materials they desire to save and to throw them into boxes, one 
for each class of article; thus, manila papers, newspapers, 
leather, rubber, metals, etc. These boxes can discharge their 
contents into power-presses, and the material be baled; or 
the material can be bundled by hand and removed. Such a 
conveyor at work is shown in Figs. 46 and 54. 

In brief, the conclusions as regards the collecting of the 
refuse can be thus stated: 

{a) The method of collecting should be part of the gen- 
eral system of disposal. 

{h) The carts should be covered, except for rubbish when 
separately collected. The carts for garbage and street- sweep- 
ings should be of metal and be water-tight. 

{c) The coUections should be made at regular intervals. 

{d) For ashes the frequency of collection is immaterial. 
It is dependent on local considerations. 

For garbage, the collections should be frequent, and at 
regular intervals. Garbage will decompose, and, unless col- 
lected before putrefaction sets in, the mass will smell. The 
collections should be daily in warm weather. 



76 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

For rubbish, the frequency of collection is immaterial, as 
the mass does not decompose. It is dependent on local con- 
siderations. 

For street-sweepings, the collections are dependent on 
local considerations. They should be as frequent as the 
sweeping, which varies with the importance of the streets and 
the uses to which they are put. Some streets must be swept 
daily, while others need cleaning only once in long periods. 

(e) When the refuse is combined, the frequency of col- 
lection depends somewhat on local considerations, and on the 
length of time that the garbage will require before it com- 
mences to decompose. When garbage is mixed with ashes 
and rubbish, especially the former, the process of decompo- 
sition is delayed. 

(/) The choice between combined and separated collections 
depends on the system for final disposition as well as on local 
considerations. 



CHAPTER V 

METHODS OF DISPOSAL 

Dumping on Land. Dumping in Water. Ploughing into Soil. 
Feeding to Swine. Reduction. Incineration. 

The place or places for final disposition of the materials 
collected, and the method or methods employed, should be 
so selected that the haulage from the collection points be as 
short as possible. If the hauls are long, the expenses, the 
time required, and the efficiency of the system will suffer. 
In many cities, the expense, caused by the long hauls to the 
receiving-stations and from them to the places for final dis- 
position, creates discontent from the high taxes and the inabiHty 
of the department to give a satisfactory service. If the mate- 
rial could be finally disposed of at these receiving- stations, 
or even reduced in bulk, much would be gained. If that be 
possible, then the receiving-stations should be located cen- 
trally for each district, and the districts should not be laid 
out with a territory too large to be properly served by the carts. 
The whole system should be so planned that the materials 
may be handled and moved as little as possible, having due 
regard to the sanitary aspects, and the comfort and character 
of the people. 

There are six generally recognized methods for the final 
disposition of the refuse, excluding those wastes which are 
not considered in this discussion. Some of these methods are 
limited to one or more of the subdivisions and not applicable 
to all. The methods are : 

77 



7^ DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

Methods. Applicable to 

1. Dumping on land. All subdivisions. 

2. Dumping in water. " ' * 

3. Ploughing into soil. Garbage and street-sweepings. 

4. Feeding to swine. Garbage. 

5. Reduction process. Garbage. . 

6. Incineration. All subdivisions (except steam-ashes). 

From this classification, it will be noted that three of the 
methods are applicable to all four of the subdivisions — ashes, 
garbage, rubbish, and street-sweepings — or to any of them 
without the others; that two are applicable to garbage only, 
and one to garbage and possibly street-sweepings. In select- 
ing a system or systems, these facts should be considered, 
both from the standpoints of cost and of the future develop- 
ment of the city. When studying the costs of a system, the 
credits must be considered as well as the debits. The credits 
are the returns from the sales of the marketable portion recovered 
by sorting, from the by-products that may be made, from the 
steam or electricity that can be produced, and from the enhanced 
value of the land that may be made by filling. 

In some localities, very generous returns can be produced 
from these credits. They often are sufficient in amount to 
cover the cost of final disposition, and places are on record, 
in America and in Europe, where the sums thus realized have 
also paid for part of the cost of collection. 

Whatever system is adopted, garbage should not be allowed 
to collect en masse, as the heap will be extremely offensive. 
A system cannot be classed as successful which will not 
promptly take care of the garbage as it is brought to the 
place of disposal, and prevent the material collecting faster 
than handled. 

I. Dumping on Land. — All the subdivisions of the refuse 
could be carted or suitably conveyed to and dumped on waste 
land. This method is practised in some places, but the result 



METHODS OF DISPOSAL 79 

is most untidy and unsightly. In those climates where the 
carrion buzzard is prevalent, the surface garbage is eaten by 
these natural scavengers. The birds beget, however, as 
indecorous a reminder of the waste-heaps as the garbage 
itself. 

When the garbage in the mixture is in sufficient quantity, 
the putrefaction may become a decided cause for annoyance, 
and possibly of an unsanitary state, especially in cases of con- 
tagious epidemic. Covered garbage remains in a putrefac- 
tive condition for long periods, as light and air are essential 
for rapid decomposition. Land thus filled is not safe for 
improvement until many years have passed. 

Such a method is not suitable for the larger communities, 
as the spreading of the material in thin layers would require 
too large an area and be too costly. It could be harmlessly 
practised by small villages for the disposition of their com- 
bined refuse, provided the dumping land be well selected. In 
such cases it would be well to collect the combustible por- 
tions into bonfires, and burn them on top of the heap at 
regular intervals. 

When the amount of garbage is small, as in those places 
where the pure garbage is separately collected and disposed 
of, and the character of the selected dumping-ground is well 
chosen, this system has merit. The appearance, however, 
is unsightly, and the burning off at intervals of the combus- 
tible portion can be recommended, as tending to keep the 
heaps more tidy. 

Where the primary separation system is in vogue in a 
community, the ashes and street-sweepings, or, better still, 
the ashes without the sweepings, make a desirable filling, 
and can be used to reclaim land so situated that any filling 
by a combined collection would be decidedly objectionable. 
In such cases the garbage, rubbish, and sweepings have to 
be cared for by some other method or methods. In some 
places the rubbish can be used for filling, but generally the 



So DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

appearance of the papers, cans, boxes, etc., makes this mate- 
rial undesirable. 

No direct returns can be expected from a combined dump- 
ing, although the land so filled may appreciate in value, or 
unhealthy swamps may be rendered more sanitary. The clean 
ash- collections are frequently salable for filling-in purposes, 
and the land reclaimed often can be profitably used by the 
community. 

Ash-fills are not considered unsanitary, but objections 
have been raised when the filling contains rubbish and street- 
sweepings. For filling in some places, these objections are 
more sentimental than real, while in others there are good 
grounds for complaint. The local conditions must be studied 
to determine whether or not a nuisance would result. The 
decision rests on (a) the character and location of the ground 
to be reclaimed, (6) the objects for which the reclaimed land 
will be used, and (c) the degree of purity of the material dumped, 
or, rather, its freedom from garbage for sanitary considera- 
tions, and its freedom from papers, cans, bottles, old boxes, etc., 
for considerations of attractiveness. 

The city of New York built a wooden crib-bulkhead around 
Riker's Island in the East River, and filled in behind over 
the marshes. The material, consisting of ashes, rubbish and 
street-sweepings, is put on scows, towed to the island, un- 
loaded by clamshell dredges on a conveyor, or into cars, and 
distributed. Figs. 27, 28, 29 and 30 illustrate the process. 
About 80 acres have been filled in this manner, and the 
reclaimed land has been conservatively valued at $10,000 
per acre. 

2. Dumping in Water. — ^AU the subdivisions of refuse could 
be dumped in some large body of water, as into the sea or a 
large lake. The principle involved is, that the water shall be 
large enough in volume to dilute and scatter those portions 
which float, and deep nough to permit the heavier portions to 
sink without interfering with channels or navigable ways. 




Fig. 27. — Unloading Ashes and Rubbish. Riker's Island, New York. 




Fig. 28. — Conveyor for Material. Riker's Island, New York. 

81 




Fig. 29. — Conveyor for Material. Riker's Island, New York. 






-i^ 




Fig. 30. — Distributing the Material. Riker's Island, New York. 

83 




Fig. 31. — Scow beiag Unloaded by Hand in the Ocean, off Sandy Hook, 

New York. 

85 




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Fig. 34. — Delahanty Dumping-boat on Dr\' Dock. 




Fig. 35. — Disfigurement of Beach by Dumping at Sea. 



91 



METHODS OF DISPOSAL 93 

Unless there be an almost uniform current away from the 
neighboring shores, the wind and tides will cause much of the 
floatable mass to be scattered along the shores and beaches. 
In the vicinity of large cities, such beaches are valuable and 
the nuisance will generally be intolerable, as the litter of putre- 
fying matter may create unsanitary conditions. The cost of 
towing the scows to safe distances from the shores for dumping 
would be prohibitive, as the scows lose so much time in trans- 
porting their loads and returning empty. Furthermore, the 
cost of patrolling the beaches, to keep them freed from the 
litter, would also form a large item of expense. Unfortunately, 
the cleanest material sinks and the foulest floats. This method 
cannot be recommended, and, where in use, efforts are made to 
abandon it in favor of some other. 

Fig. 31 is a photograph of a flat scow being unloaded 
in the ocean, outside of Sandy Hook. It shows clearly the 
quantity of flotsam, much of which will be distributed along 
the beaches a httle later. 

Fig. 32 shows a Barney Dumper being unloaded at sea. 
It is a divided boat and splits in the centre, thus dropping 
its load. It is a great improvement over the flat scow. 

Fig 33 is a Delahanty Dumper, going to sea under its 
own steam. It is a catamaran, having pockets hung between 
the two hulls. Doors, hung by hinges in the bottom of these 
pockets, are opened and closed by steam-power, thus dis- 
charging the refuse. By the use of this vessel the refuse of 
New York is disposed of at a cost of about 19 cents per cubic 
yard. Fig. 34 shows the boat on a dock. 

One of the dumping-boards of New York City, with two 
Barney Dumpers and a flat scow, is shown in Fig. 22. 

Fig. 35 illustrates the disfigurement of Coney Island Beach, 
near New York, by dumping at sea. 

3. Ploughing into Soil. — This method is only applicable to 
garbage, and possibly to street-sweepings. When the street- 
sweepings contain a small proportion of street dirt, and a 



94 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

large proportion of horse- manure and other organic compounds, 
they have a slight fertilizing effect. 

The garbage can be ploughed in with good effect in soils 
which are sandy, but for a large city the farming area must 
be large and the hauls necessarily long. 

It requires the primary separation system for collection, and 
the disposal of the ashes and rubbish must be provided for by 
other methods. Ploughing cannot be practised in cold climates 
where the ground freezes. 

For small communities this method has had some success, 
but for large cities its application is doubtful. 

4. Feeding to Swine. — This is a method only applicable 
to fresh garbage, unmixed with other refuse. It is a primitive 
method, and one almost exclusively practised on farms and by 
isolated country homes. It requires the separation system of 
collection, which must be made effective to gather only the 
garbage at regular intervals and while fresh. This is often 
a difficult matter when the city makes its own collections, as 
householders, especially those in the cheaper class of tenement, 
display so little interest in assisting the authorities. It is 
seldom considered for large cities, because this tenement class 
is the one of all others from whom the garbage must be taken 
in order to preserve healthy conditions, and because the swine- 
herds would have to be cumbersomely large. In a large 
swine-herd there is always danger of hog- cholera and other 
diseases, which might require the killing and replacing of a 
herd at short notice. 

For some communities, especially those of neat character- 
istics, as in some places in New England, this system has 
worked successfully and has been the source of positive 
revenue. 

With this method, other means have to be provided for 
the disposal of the ashes, rubbish, and street-sweepings. 

5. Reduction Process. — This method is only applicable to 
garbage freed from* the admixture of rubbish. The separation 



METHODS GF DISPOSAL 95 

system of collection must be used, and other methods have 
to be provided for the disposal of the remainder of the 
refuse. 

It is a method which can be adopted only by large cities, 
for, unless there be sufficient garbage, the first cost is pro- 
hibitive. It has been used by a number of the large American 
cities, and the principal objections raised against it are the 
odors that arise from the plant and the long haul, as the people 
have insisted on the plants being established at some diftance 
from the city centre. The odors could be partially overcome, 
no doubt, by proper designing and operation, but such improve- 
ments entail considerable additional expense. 

These processes are capable of earning money from the 
sale of the by-products produced. All of the processes are 
of a mechanical nature, and the plants are expensive to erect. 
The cost of operating these utilization plants have not been 
made public, but the fact is that the returns from the sales 
do not meet the expenses, and the cities have to pay a bonus 
to the companies. This bonus usually is a contract on the 
part of the city to deliver the garbage, the minimum quantity 
being fixed, free at the works, and to pay the company a fixed 
price per ton to dispose of it. At times the company makes 
its own collections, and in that event the price covers the cost 
of collection as well. 

The question for settlement, before studying the reduc- 
tion processes, is whether the material saved is worth saving 
after it is separated out by the process. 

Garbage reduction consists of some method of " render- 
ing " by which the oil and grease is removed from the dry 
animal and vegetable matter called " tankage." Both the 
grease, in the form of oil, and the tankage have value. The 
grease has a value of about 3 cents a pound, and is sold as a 
base for the manufacture of pomatums and the cheaper grades 
of perfumery, and for making wagon-grease. The tankage, 
when dried and ground, is sold as a base for fertilizer, or is 



96 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

burned as fuel under the boilers of the works. The tankage 
contains about 3 J per cent or less of ammonia. 

In all the processes there is some residue, which is gen- 
erally mixed with the fuel and burned under the boilers. The 
boiler ash-pit refuse and the residue is disposed of for filling. 

The offensive fumes generated at 1 eduction works have a 
pungent, chocolate like odor. These fumes arise from the 
process of cooking, from the liquids drawn off, and from the 
heaps of garbage awaiting treatment. 

The reduction is accomplished by the action of heat or 
the use of a solvent. The sovlent systems use naphtha, ben- 
zine, carbon-disulphite, etc., which dissolve the grease that 
is separated from the solid tankage by pressure. In a properly- 
conducted plant, all disease germs are destroyed and the 
putrescible matter rendered innocuous. 

The processes, therefore, so treat the raw garbage as to 
separate the rubbish, which is worthless, the water, the grease, 
and the tankage. Even with a careful primary separation at 
collection, the rubbish mixed with the garbage will amount to 
from 5 to 8 per cent by weight. 

The best-known systems are the Arnold, using live steam 
for melting and cooking; the Merz and the Simonin, using 
naphtha and benzine. 

The Arnold * process is the simplest and apparently the most suc- 
cessful and least costly. The garbage, after picking out metals, glass, 
and other undesirable rubbish, is dumped into large steel digesters, each 
holding about eight tons. In them the garbage is cooked several hours 
under pressure with live steam. It is then allowed to fall through a 
valve at the bottom into a continuously rolling press, which separates 
the fluid from the tankage. The fluid consists of grease and water, which 
is caught in floor -drains and run off to settling -basins, where the oil or 
grease is subsequently separated by gravity and clarified by exposure to 
light. The water is allowed to flow off into a sewer and wasted. The 
remaining solid matter or tankage is dried, and then either ground and 
sold as a filler for fertilizers, burned or wasted. 

* International Engineering Congress, St. Louis, Trans. Am. Sec. C. E.> 
1905. 



METHODS OF DISPOSAL 97 

The Merz process was probably the first in successful use. It is briefly 
described as follows: The garbage is dumped into a hopper, from which 
the superfluous water drains off. It is then spread out and as much 
foreign matter as possible, such as cans, bottles, rags, metal, and bones, 
is picked out and sold. Then it is dumped into hot-air driers and stirred 
with mechanical mixers for about six hours, when it becomes comminuted, 
and is dark brown and greasy. In this condition it is put into extractors, 
or closed tanks, into which naphtha is made to percolate for the purpose 
of dissolving and thereby extracting the grease. The grease solution 
is drawn off, separated from the naphtha, barrelled and sold. The naphtha 
is vaporized, then condensed, and used again. The tankage is ground, 
sifted, and sold for fertilizing purposes, or has been used in its natural 
state for fuel. 

The Simonin process is quite similar. While naphtha is used for 
the grease extraction, it is applied directly, and obviates the necessity 
of a prior drying. The garbage is dumped into pans on cars, which are 
then run into the extractors. These are subsequently closed tightly, 
and naphtha is allowed to fill them. The garbage and naphtha are then 
heated by steam coils placed in the bottom. The grease is dissolved by 
a portion of the naphtha, and the heat evaporates the remaining naphtha 
and water. The latter pass off as vapor into a condenser to be liquefied 
and then flow into a separator, from which the water flows into a sewer 
and the naphtha into a tank, from which it is drawn for repeated use. 
This evaporation is continued until nearly all the free naphtha is driven 
off, and a solution of grease remains at the bottom of the extractor, from 
which it is drawn off and forced into a settling tank; then it flows to a 
still where the naphtha is removed by steam heat, and finally is drawn 
off into a tank from which the grease is barrelled for shipment. The 
garbage held in the extractor is heated several times until all water is 
removed. The naphtha, remaining after the grease solution is drawn 
off, is driven off by live steam, after which the dry tankage is taken out 
and disposed of. This process takes about 48 hours. 

The output of the Merz system* is stated at from 2 to 
3 per cent of grease and from 15 to 20 per cent of tankage. 
The analysis of the tankage is about: 

Moisture, at 100° C 11.70% 

Ammonia 3-20% 

Phosphoric acid i .68% 

Potash 1.20% 

* Board of Health Report, Brooklyn, 1896. 



98 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

The St. Luios Sanitary Company operated reduction works 
on the Merz system in St. Louis, Mo. The plant treated on 
an average of 200 tons per day. In summer and early autumn 
the daily quantity increased about 50 per cent, while in winter 
it was less. The plant is said to have cost about $8oo,oco, 
which, however, may have included some experimental work. 

In New York and Boston the garbage is collected sepa- 
rately, and sent to utihzation companies which operate works 
on the Arnold system. Figs. 36, 37, and 38 illustrate the 
plant at Barren Island, New York, where the garbage collec- 
tions are sent in scows. 

6. Incineration. — This method is applicable to all the 
subdivisions of civic refuse; or to some of them, should a 
partial separation system be in use. While objections and 
complaints have been raised against incineration, which often 
have been well founded, when viewed in the experience of 
some individual plants rather than on broad principles, the 
method has an attractive feature from a sanitary aspect. The 
necessary heat, generated to insure the combustion of the 
material, will positively destroy all germ- life. 

Returns can be secured from the process, by utilizing the 
heat for power, and the clinker and ashes for brickmaking, 
concrete mixing, and for filling. If additional returns are 
sought, the marketable matter must be sorted out before it 
passes into the furnace. The heat generated can be utilized 
for power purposes besides operating the plant, and can be 
made income earning. This heat is a valuable asset. 

The rubbish and street-sweepings are combustible. While 
there is some incombustible matter mixed with them, still there 
is sufficient left even after sorting to burn readily. The rub- 
bish is usually of a dry and very combustible nature. 

The ashes can be burned under suitable conditions, at 
least there is generally enough combustible in them to burn 
under a strong draft. If they are screened, to remove the fine 
ash and prevent its choking the fire, the percentage of combus- 




Fig. 36. — Unloading Garbage. Barren Island, New York. 



99 



LOFa 




Fig. 37. — Digesters for Garbage. Barren Island, New York. 




Fig. 38. — Pressing Grease and Water from Garbage. 



lOI 



METHODS OF DISPOSAL 103 

tible in the remainder is increased. The combustible in ashes 
is treated at some length in Chapter III. 

The garbage is hard to burn per se, due to the large pro- 
portion of water, but the dried garbage will burn. If gar- 
bage is mixed with fuel in sufficient quantity to evaporate the 
moisture, the mass will be readily consumed. The fuel can 
be the rubbish, street-sweepings, and the ash. 

If gathered by a combined collection, the whole is passed 
into the furnace. If a separate collection is made (and this 
can be done to facihtate the sorting for revenue if desired)^ 
then the several masses are fed into the furnace in proper 
proportions at a time to burn the garbage. The fuel required 
to burn the garbage should be in the ratio of about i pound 
or more of coal, or its equivalent, to 9.7 pounds of raw garbage. 

The residue is ash, and it is a fact worthy of consideration 
that with incineration the residue from the city is all of one 
class, * requiring but one system for its final disposition. 

The same is true if the ash collections are not passed 
through the furnace, for the ash collections and the incinerator 
ash can be mixed and conveyed away together for final place- 
ment. 

The incineration of mixed refuse, ash-bin refuse as it is 
called, is a favorite method in England, where it has been 
practised with considerable success. It is also in use on the 
continent of Europe, and has been tried with partial success 
in America. 

In Paris, France, during 1895, part of the house refuse 
(mixed refuse, called "gadoues" or garbage) collected was 
burned in a trial furnace, and was found to be self- consuming 
and required no additional fuel. The ashes produced measured 
40 per cent by weight. 

At present, part of the city of Paris sends its mixed refuse 
collections to be ground and sold as fertilizer. The experiment f 

* Incinerator ash and the steam and household ash. 
t P. Tur., Trans. Am. Soc. C. E., 1904. 



104 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

is reported to have proved successful for the municipality, 
although the cost of removal to the fields exceeded its selling 
value. Eleven out of some twenty boroughs in Paris are 
grinding the collections, and it is claimed that the grinding 
process requires less time than the incineration of the same 
amount. 

It has been proposed by M. Exbrayat to mix ground garbage 
(mixed refuse from houses) with coal-dust, and sell the product 
as a cheap fuel. The author is not aware that this treatment 
has been tried with success. 



CHAPTER VI 

REDUCTION AND INCINERATION 

Development of the Systems. Limitations. Advantages and 

Disadvantages. 

The reduction processes have been developed in the United 
States during the past fifteen years. The incineration processes, 
on the other hand, have been developed abroad, especially in 
England and Germany, during the past thirty years. Many 
persons contrast the two methods in a sense of rivalry, but such 
should not be the true status. Within their Hmitations — they 
both have the same object, the complete breaking up of the 
garbage and its destruction into something harmless, — each 
has some merit, and both have their disadvantages, like every- 
thing else which tries to accompHsh a difficult end. 

There are residues from both methods which have to be 
cared for; and while reduction is sounded on the idea of 
saving some of the intrinsic value of the garbage, incineration 
does not. Both methods have had setbacks and recorded 
failures from had advice, poor inception, and faulty design. 
This is especially true of the early efforts to incinerate garbage 
in the United States, where civic committees were often ap- 
pointed, incompetent to grasp the technical questions involved, 
who placed too much reliance on the theories and statements 
of astute promoters and inventors. 

Many of these schemes have been introduced for trial, 
through the argument of a guarantee clause which would 
safeguard the municipality. But what value is the guarantee, 

lOs 



I06 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

if the scheme creates a nuisance or fails to perform its work? 
The actual monetary cost to a city for such a specific plant 
may be nil, but the indirect loss may be great from the setting 
of public sentiment against a principle, the failure of which 
was, or may have been, solely due to errors in design or judg- 
ment. 

The reduction processes have all been operated by utiliza- 
tion companies organized for the purpose. They can be 
instituted in large cities only, as small communities do not 
produce sufficient garbage to make them pay. There are 
some fifteen or twenty cities in the United States where these 
reduction works are in operation, although works in a num- 
ber of others were erected and abandoned from one cause or 
another. 

Only pure garbage can be taken by a utilization company 
for the purpose of rendering and extracting the grease and 
fertilizer compounds, so that the remaining refuse, ashes, 
rubbish, and street-sweepings must be otherwise cared for. 

Successful destruction of rubbish by fire may be said to 
date from the incineration or destructor plant, designed and 
erected in 1875 ^7 ^^^ ^^^^ Alfred Fryer, of Nottingham, Eng- 
land. 

The incineration process is not applicable to garbage 
alone, unless fuel be used. The garbage collections from the 
fruit markets are the most difficult to burn, while ordinary 
kitchen garbage will burn reasonably well when mixed with 
fuel, on accoun. of the grease it contains. Garbage requires 
about one- eighth to one- tenth of its weight in coal or equiva- 
lent fuel, to effect its complete destruction by incineration. 
The ash, rubbish, and street-sweeping collections, all of which 
contain combustible material, can be used for the fuel, and 
the process will then care for all the mixed refuse. This state- 
ment is based on the assumption that the rubbish collections 
are in sufficient quantity, for they are the most combustible 
of the three, and the incineration process chiefly relies upon 



REDUCTION AND INCINERATION 107 

it to generate the heat required to dry the garbage. Rubbish 
exists in sufficient quantity for fuel in all the large cities. 
The ashes and clinker after incineration amount to from 
30 to 38 per cent by weight. These ashes can be used for 
filling or for making concrete or artificial bricks. 

It would be possible to press crude garbage and drain 
off a large part of the water before the garbage was charged 
into an incinerating furnace or destructor. Probably 50 per 
cent of the moisture could be removed in this manner. This 
pressing, however, would add some complications and might 
not pay in some places. On the other hand, it might render 
incineration possible, in places where the other classes of refuse 
were not fully collected or not found in quantity. 

In Europe, the incineration plants, when well designed, 
have worked satisfactorily, even when located in populous 
neighborhoods, but they are fed with the combined house- 
hold collections, ashes, rubbish, and garbage, all mixed. The 
combined material is burned with an artificial draft to obtain 
high temperatures, which thus cremates all the gases and 
fumes, and only men expert as garbage firemen are employed. 
The material also is so charged into the furnace, that it has 
an opportunity to evaporate its moisture before it is stoked 
forward on the fire grate. 

In order to obtain high temperature in the furnace, which 
is a requirement for successful incineration, an artificial draft 
should be used. The draft may be created by fans blowing 
hot air, or by steam-jets. One of the advantages of the plenum 
system for artificial draft over any form of induced or vacuum 
draft is the preventing of an inrush of cold air to chill the 
furnace when the doors are opened for firing, and the use of 
loose-fitting fire-doors, which are more easy to operate than 
tight-fitting doors required for the induced systems. 

The draft pressure varies from J inch to 3 inches of water 
pressure, but should not be too great, as holes are apt to be 
burned in the fuel-bed and the stoking requires too constant 



io8 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

attention. Probably a i or i| inch pressure is sufficient, 
but the best pressure should be determined by experience 
for each locality. 

The air-supply in the blast should be about 46 cubic feet, 
or 3 J pounds per pound of average mixed refuse.* Many 
furnace designers prefer a steam-jet to an air-blast, and both 
systems have their advantages. 

In America, the failures have been chiefly due to incorrect 
designs of furnaces, large grates, slow combustion, low tempera- 
tures, too much reliance on stoking, and inexperienced firemen. 
Unless high temperatures are generated in the furnace- cell, 
the garbage mass will be subjected to frying rather than to 
cremation, and odors are sure to be discharged from the stack. 
The majority of American plants have not had competent 
engineering talent in charge, resulting in the collection of the 
materials en masse, odors, dust, incomplete combustion, and 
general annoyance. The civic authorities have done too 
much and the engineers too little. The republican form of 
government, with its repeated changes of administration, 
has also had a deleterious effect. The types of furnace so 
far adopted in America have been of cheaper form of construc- 
tion than those of the latest and best pattern in Europe, and 
the municipalities have given too much consideration to first 
cost and too little to efficient working and results to be achieved. 

The combined refuse, as found in Europe and America, 
appears to differ somewhat in their make-up, but they are 
about as combustible in one as in the other. American refuse 
contains more moisture and a larger proportion of combustible 
material than European refuse. There are no reasons why the 
results achieved in Europe cannot be duplicated in America. 
In the United States, incinerating plants will probably be 
adopted first by the smaller towns and cities, and on their suc- 
cess, which will depend on sound engineering advice, the larger 
cities will slowly plan future improvements. 

* George Watson, Trans. Am. Soc. M. E., Vol. XXV, 1904. 



REDUCTION AND INCINERATION 109 

The furnace should be designed only after careful study of 
successful plants. Owing to the high temperatures maintained, 
the fire-brick work should be laid up with freedom for expan- 
sion. The fire-bricks, according to the experience of George 
Watson,* should be laid with very close joints, and consist of 
from 60 to 70 per cent of silica, with 30 to 40 per cent of 
alumina While a little iron is harmless, potash and soda tend 
to act as a flux, and should be present only in small quantities. 

The advantages and disadvantages claimed for these two 
systems are: 

Reduction 

ADVANTAGES 

1. The organic or putrescible matter of the garbage is 
extracted into compounds which are harmless — as grease and 
tankage (fertilizer base). 

2. It thus saves those components which have a material 
intrinsic value. 

3. The garbage is cared for in a sanitary manner. The 
cost is about $1.80 to $2.00 per ton to the city, and no revenue 
from the grease or tankage. 

4. As the w^orks are situated at some distance from, the 
city, the haulage is only on the garbage. 

5. When properly designed and carefully operated, the 
process need not be a nuisance, and its adoption adds a new 
manufacturing industry. 

DISADVANTAGES 

1. The first cost is high. Expensive machinery and 
apparatus are required. The cost of renewals and repairs is 
large. 

2. The odors and smells that are apt to be given off, and 
the expense to prevent such an annoyance. 

* Trans. Am. Soc. M. E., Vol. XXV, 1904. 



no DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

3. The distant location of the plant from the city, in order 
that the odors may be least objectionable. 

4. Being a manufacturing plant, it should be erected and 
operated by private interests. Civic authorities often do not 
succeed in an economical management of a business enterprise. 
Being operated for profit, there is danger that the works may 
create a nuisance. 

5. Requiring skilled labor, there is some danger of strikes. 

6. The garbage must be separately collected. There will 
always be some foreign material, tin cans and the like, which 
must be sorted out at the works. 

7. There being but one plant, the system would be crippled 
by fire or by any cause stopping the plant. The. plant cannot 
be divided, as small plants do not pay. 

8. The process cares for the garbage only, leaving the 
remaining refuse to be otherwise treated. 

Incineration 

ADVANTAGES 

1. It destroys all the organic matter. 

2. It cares for the garbage, ashes, rubbish, and street- 
sweepings, and reduces them all to ash. 

3. The ashes, rubbish, and street-sweepings furnish the 
fuel, and the process is not necessarily expensive. 

4. Some revenue can be obtained from the heat generated. 
The revenue from the ashes is not considered here, because 
the same could be obtained if the ashes, rubbish, and street- 
sweepings were burned, and the garbage sent to a reduction- 
works. 

5. The system is sanitary, as fire is a sure destructor of 
all germ-life. The cost varies from about $0.25 to $0.75 per 
ton. Adding the cost of removal of the clinker and ashes, say 
$0.25 to $0.50, would make the total cost to the city from $0.50 
to $1.25 per ton, from which should be credited the revenues. 



REDUCTION AND INCINERATION III 

6. The hauls can be short, as more than one plant can be 
used. 

7. Civic authorities could operate these plants, as they 
are not of a manufacturing nature. 

8. No necessity for separate collections, unless the rubbish 
is sorted for revenue. 

9. As a number of plants can be used, risk of interference 
by fire, or other cause of stoppage, is reduced. 

DISADVANTAGES 

1. The dust and fumes, if not properly designed and 
operated. 

2. The necessity of hauling all the refuse to the plant. 

3. Expert firemen, in order to make the incineration most 
satisfactory. 



CHAPTER VII 

ECONOMIES 

Intrinsic Values of Refuse. Haulage. Reduction. Incineration. 
Value of Refuse as a Fuel. Evaporative Results obtained in Practice. 
Forty-seventh Street and Delancey Slip Results. 

Before mapping out plans for the disposal of a city's refuse, 
the engineer must study the locality and its requirements. 
The methods of collection should comply with sanitary con- 
siderations, but otherwise are chiefly a matter of detail. 

In selecting a method for final disposition, the first cost, 
the durability, the cost of maintenance and operation, the 
question of haulage, and the possible revenues, all demand 
consideration. When a system has been evolved, then the 
question of separate or combined collections can be deter- 
mined. 

In comparing methods on a basis of costs of maintenance 
and operation, it is proper to include in the costs the disposal 
of all the general refuse. Some methods can treat one, two, 
or more of the subdivisions, while others can handle but one. 

The intrinsic values of the subdivisions of refuse should 
be regarded as " by-products," which may be turned to the 
advantage of a city by adopting one method over another, 
rather than as essential features or primary objects to be sought 
in a system for disposal. 

If a city could store its refuse collections like merchandise, 
it probably could sell off the marketable portion at a profit. 
A city has no room for storage, but must dispose of its refuse 

112 



ECONOMIES 1 13 

daily, as fast as collected, and is thus not placed so as to affect 
an advantageous bargain at all times. 

The revenues, either direct or indirect, that can be obtained 
are: 

From Garbage. — Its value as food for swine. The value 
of the grease and oil, which can be used in the manufacture 
of pomatums, low-grade perfumery, wagon and other cheap 
greases. The value of the tankage, which can be used as 
a base or filler to mix with phosphates for fertilizer. The 
value of the heat which may be produced by incineration. 

Its value as food is usually limited to small and moderate- 
sized cities; and those only in certain localities, where the 
conditions and habits of the people are favorable to the main- 
tenance of a swineherd. 

Its value for grease and tankage is limited to large cities, 
that is, those of over 200,000 inhabitants. The value of 
the grease is about two to three cents per pound, and of the 
tankage about five to six dollars per ton. The value of these 
two products is not sufficient to operate a reduction-works, 
as they are recovered from less than 20 per cent, by weight, 
of the garbage collected, the other 80 per cent being water 
and rubbish, both of which are valueless. In consequence, 
a reduction-plant is not self-sustaining, and a bonus must 
be paid the works in addition to the revenue so obtained. 
This bonus varies from $0.50 to $2.50 per ton. The cost of 
operation of reduction-plants has not been made public, but 
the total expenses are reported as varying from $1.50 to $2.50 
per ton,* according to the system in use, the character of the 
garbage, the location of the plant, and the local market. 

The value of the heat derived from burning the garbage 
is not large, as so much is rendered latent in the evaporation 
of the moisture. The heat value is dependent on the demand 
for power. 

* Brooklyn Health Department Report, 1896, p. 76. 



114 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

From Ashes. — Its value for grading streets; for filling in 
and making land which can be utilized or sold, for filling in 
swamps or malarial places, and improving the health condi- 
tions of the locality; for an ingredient for concrete; and the 
heat which may be produced by incineration. 

The value as filhng can only be determined in each locality. 

In New York, the ash collections have varied in value from 
the free cost of final removal to from 12 to 19 cents per cubic 
yard, but these prices are not always obtainable. Ordinarily, 
the city has to pay a bonus to private parties for the ash removal, 
which has been as high as 60 cents per ton, and as low as 10 
cents. The city, however, saves the cost of carriage for final 
disposition. Considerable filling has been accomplished on 
property owned by the city, and the land so recovered has 
been rendered very valuable, at the cost of disposal of the 
material which had to be removed. 

Its value for concrete mixing is small, as the demand does 
not equal the supply, and as the mixed ashes are not as good 
for the purpose as the steam-ashes. 

Its heating value as one of the fuels for burning garbage 
is dependent on the quantity of unburned coal contained, 
which must be determined in each locaHty. This heating 
value can be increased from 20 to 30 per cent by sifting out 
the fine ash. 

From Rubbish. — Its value for filHng in land, from sorting 
or picking out the merchantable portion, and from the heat 
which may be generated by incineration- 
Its value for filling is small, as the mass is so bulky, hetero- 
geneous, and unsightly. Its value for sorting varies with 
the locaHty and character of the place and inhabitants. In 
large cities its value is generally greater than in small ones. 
In New York the sorting contractor paid the city in 1903 the 
sum of $71,000 for the privilege for the Boroughs of Manhattan 
and the Bronx, or at the rate of about $0.57 per ton collected, 
or $1.88 per ton picked out. During 1904, the weekly privi- 



ECONOMIES 115 

lege sold for sums varying from $1,175 ^^ $1,920. The total 
collections for the two boroughs in 1903 were 126,188 tons, of 
which perhaps 30 per cent was picked out. At those dumps 
where facilities for picking are provided, the quantity picked 
out will be increased, and for which the contractor would pay 
an additional sum. 

Being very combustible, its heat value is considerable, 
but depends on the local demand for power and the use to 
which the power can be applied. The power generated by the 
heat could be sold, could be transformed into electrical energy 
and utilized, or could be used for operating a bottle-washing 
apparatus and a plant for recovering the tin from old cans, 
the metal of which can be cast into sash-weights. This latter 
arrangement would add a direct value to the discarded bottles 
and cans collected in the rubbish. In some localities the heat 
could be utilized in a sewage-disposal plant by having the 
incinerator plant located adjacent, and in others for pumping 
the water supply. 

The ashes left after incineration contain potash and am- 
monia, and have a value when freed from cans, glass, china, 
metals, etc. As a fertilizer, they are especially adapted for 
use on trees, shrubbery, and grass. 

From Street-sweepings. — Its value for filling in land, 
for fertilizer, and for the heat which may be generated by in- 
cineration 

Its value for filling is small, due to the organic matter 
contained, the danger of its decomposition and the spread of 
germs, and its dusty and unsightly appearance. 

Its value as a fertilizer is not large, but depends on the 
kind of pavement, the method of collection, and the mixture.* 
It could be mixed with the private stable-manure to possible 
advantage. 



* See " Fertilizing Value of Street Sweepings," Bulletin 55, Division of 
Chemistry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Ii6 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

Its heating value depends on the same conditions as for 
rubbish, that is, the opportunity for utilizing the heat generated. 

Closely associated with economy is the question of haulage. 
If the collect on-carts have long hauls to the central receiving- 
stations, much valuable time is lost, and the daily quantity 
moved per horse is reduced. To make daily collections from 
the houses, under such conditions, means the maintenance of a 
large staff of men, horses and carts, which, of course, is ex- 
pensive. The hauls, therefore, should be as short as possible, 
which can be secured by dividing the municipality into districts 
and locating in each district a receiving-station. 

The ideal system would treat the material in these receiving- 
stations, simply leaving the removal of the residue to the 
place for final disposition. 

Garbage could not be treated by the reduction process in 
this way, as the reduction plants cannot be made economical 
in small units, and are liable to create too much odor when 
located in a thickly settled district. If the reduction process 
is adopted, then a system of primary separation would allow 
the garbage alone to have the long haul to the reduction works, 
while the other refuse could be delivered to the central stations 
and have the benefit of the short haul. From these stations 
the residue could be removed to its place for final disposition 
by carts, trolley cars, steam cars or water haulage, as circum- 
stances would permit. 

The economies from reduction do not cover the operating 
expenses, repairs, fixed charges (which are large on account 
of the high first cost), and depreciation. These charges amount 
to about $2.00 per ton, so that these works must be sustained 
by a bonus from the city in addition to the revenues earned. 
From the view-point of a city, the reduction works offer an 
opportunity of getting rid of the garbage collections promptly 
as they are made. 

If the garbage could be made innocuous at the central 
stations, then this bonus and the cost of delivery on the long 



ECONOMIES 117 

haul would be saved, and the appropriation would be avail- 
able for the operation of plants for disposal at ihe stations. 

In Europe, incinerating or destructor plants have been 
maintained, in many instances without complaint, within 
the built-up districts of municipalities. These plants receive 
the mixed collections and the intrinsic values are lost, except 
that which can be obtained from sorting the rubbish and 
the value of the heat for power. The heat from the European 
plants has been utilized for generating steam, for operating 
power-stations, for electric -lighting, traction, and pumping, 
while the ashes and clinkers have been made into artificial 
stones and bricks or sold for filling. 

In' America the past experience in burning the general refuse 
has not been gratifying; but every unbiased student of the 
subject, as far as the author is aware, has agreed that the 
failures have been due to poor design and improvident manage- 
ment. The American plants have burned the material, but 
not at rapid rates oj combustion and at high temperature, both 
of which conditions are essential when garbage is in the 
mixture as fed to the furnace. 

The value of refuse as a fuel depends on the combustible 
matter which it contains. There does not appear to be a 
marked difference in the general make-up of combined refuse 
as collected in the different parts of the world, that is, in cities 
of similar rating. It differs more in quantity than in complexion. 
Its use as a fuel, however, should always be placed secondary 
to its sanitary disposal. 

Garbage will burn, as can be proved by throwing it into a 
range or stove. It requires enough heat to evaporate the 
water, when the dry matter will burn of itself and assist in 
drying the next charge. This dried portion will generate about 
7,500 British thermal units per pound. 

The combustible in the ashes has a total heat of combus- 
tion varying from, say, io,oco to 14,000 heat-units per pound. 
Therefore the dry ash, on a basis of 25 per cent of combus- 



ii8 



DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 



tible, will generate about 3,000 B.t.u. per pound. As the 
ashes, according to the analyses given before, average over 
25 per cent of combustible, there is an allowance at this latter 
figure for some moisture. 

The rubbish, being principally composed of paper, rags, 
and wood, has a total heat of combustion varying from, say, 
5,000 to 7,500 B.t.u. per pound. 

The street-sweepings contain some combustible material, 
which can be taken as having a total heat of combustion of 
about 6,000 B.t.u. per pound. The remainder of the street- 
sweepings consists of incombustible material and water. If 
we assume that 33 per cent is incombustible, 42 per cent is 
combustible, and 25 per cent is water, the burning of the 
street -sweepings would generate about 2,000 B.t.u. per pound, 
a probably safe figure. 

Assume that the combined collection is composed of: 



Classification. 


City Collections. 


Used as Fuel. 


Oarbace 


15-0% (70% moisture) 
64.0 (25% combustible) 
70 (33 1% sorted out) 
14.0 


22.9% 
48.7 

71 
21.3 


Ashes 


Rubbish 


Street-sweepings 






100. 


1 00.0 



Also assume that 33J per cent of the rubbish is sorted 
out and only half the ashes are delivered to the furnace, §0 
that the percentage of the constituents as thrown into the fur- 
nace would be in the ratio stated in the last column. From 
the above, a heat- balance can be worked out as shown in 
the table on page 119. 

The combustible portion is : Garbage, 0.0687 ; ashes, 0.0913; 
rubbish, 0.064 (allowing 10% for the incombustible portion); 
and street-sweepings, 0.071 (allowing 33% as incombustible), 
making a total of 0.295 pounds. 

If the heat is passed through a boiler, and the losses be 
assumed at 40 per cent, then the available useful heat would 



ECONOMIES 



119 



be 2391X0.60 = 1434 B.t.u., or sufficient to evaporate 1.48 
pounds of water from and at 212° F. 

Estimate for Heat-balance 

Temperature of air, 60° F.; temperature of furnace, 2,000° F. Fuel, city 
refuse, combined collections, one pound, moderately dry. 



Garbage: — Dried portion, 0.229X0.30X7500 

Moisture, 0.229 X0.70X {(212 — 60) + 
966 + 0.48(2000—212) I 

Ashes: — On basis that only three-fourths of the 
combustible is burned, then 0.487 X 0.75 X 
3000 

Rubbish : — On basis that one-third has been sorted 
out, then 0.071X5000 

Street -sweepings: — On basis that there is 2)2)% ^^- 
combustible matter, then 0.213X2000 

Heating fuel-mass: — Taking the specific heat of 
the mass at 0.2, then i X 0.2 X (2000— 60) = 
388, of which, say, one-third is lost through 
raking out the hot ashes 

Heating air-supply: — * On basis of 4.2 pounds of 
air per pound of fuel, then 4.2X0.2375 
(2000—60). This is about 14.3 pounds of 
air per pound of combustible 



Estimated B.t.u. per pound. 



Total Heat of 

Combustion, 

B.t.u. 



1095 

355 
426 



2391 



Dissipation 

of Heat, 

B.t.u. 



317 



129 



1945 



2391 



* The pounds of air per pound of fuel is figured by difference. 

If a pound of coal can evaporate 9 pounds of water, and 
is worth $3.00 per ton, then the value of this refuse as a fuel 
would be ($1.48 -^ 9) X 3. 00 = $0.49 per ton. 

It would be possible to vary the proportions of the con- 
stituents fed to the furnace so long as sufficient combustible 
material was supplied to evaporate the moisture in the garbage. 
This condition can be arrived at by practice at the furnace. 
It is also self-evident that an increased efficiency will be obtained 
if the air supplied be heated. 

In the same manner, another heat-balance can be worked 
out for the burning of garbage, rubbish, and street-sweepings 
when all the ashes are kept out of the furnace and utilized 
for land -filling. 



I20 



DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 



Taking the same general analysis as before for the com- 
bined collections, the fuel proportions would be : 



Classification. 


City Collections. 


Used as Fuel. 


Garbage 

Rubbish 


15% (70% moisture) 
7 iZZWo sorted out) 
14 


44-5% 
139 
41 .6 

100. 


Street-sweepings 





Assume, as before, that one-third of the rubbish is sorted 
out as marketable, then the percentage of the constituents as 
thrown into the furnace would be in the ratio stated in the 
last column. 

Estimate for Heat-balance. 
Temperature of air, 60° F.; temperature of furnace, 2,000° F. Fuel, city 
refuse — garbage, rubbish, and street-sweepings — one pound. 





Total Heat of 


Dissipation 




Combustion , 


of Heat, 




B.t.u. 


B.t.u. 


Garbage: — Dried portion, 0.445X0.30X7500 


lOOI 




Moisture, 0.445 X0.70X (212 — 60) + 






966+0.48(2000—212) 




61S 


Rubbish: — 0.139X5000 


695 




Street -sweepings: — 0.41 6 X 2000 


832 




Heating fuel-mass : — i X 0. 2 X (2000— 60), of which 






about one-third is lost 


.... 


129 


Heating air-supply: — On basis of 3.9 pounds of 






air per pound of fuel, 3.9 X 0.2375 X (2000— 






60). This is about 9.9 pounds of air per 






pound of combustible 




1784 


Fstimated T? t u Der Dound 


2528 


2528 





The combustible portion is: Garbage, 0.1335; rubbish, 
0.1 2 51 (allowing 10% for the incombustible portion); and 
street-sweepings, 0.1386 (allowing 33% as incombustible), 
making a total of 0.3972 pounds. 

If the heat is passed through a boiler, and the losses be 
assumed at 40 per cent, then the available useful heat would 
be 2528X0.60 = 1516 B.t.u., or sufficient to evaporate 1.57 
pounds of water from and at 212° F. 



ECONOMIES 



121 



On the basis of 34.5 pounds of water evaporated from 
and at 212° F., as equivalent to one boiler horse-power, 
these two results would represent a boiler horse power for 
about 23.3 pounds of combined collections, and 22.0 pounds 
of mixed garbage, rubbish, and street-sweepings. 

The results also indicate that, in order to obtain a high 
furnace-temperature, an artificial draft is needed, so as to 
get the benefit of a thorough mixture of the oxygen with the 
fuel, and not require too great a surplus of air. In practice, 
the highest evaporative results per pound of collection burned 
have been obtained when the boiler is set directly over the 
fires, as the heat is direct and the losses are reduced to a mini- 
mum. But such a plan is not conducive to the maintenance 
of high temperatures in the furnace, and consequently the 
complete destruction of the mass by thorough combustion is 
apt to be sacrificed. As the latter consideration is of para- 
mount importance, the boilers should be set to receive the 

Table X 

APPROXIMATE CALORIFIC VALUES OF EEFUSE 



Garbage, dry 

' ' as collected 

Bones and offal, dry 

" ' * " average moisture 

Ashes, combustible portion 

' ' as collected, average 

Rubbishy from 

to 

Paper, straw, fibrous matter, and vegeta- 
ble refuse, dry 

Paper, straw, fibrous matter, and vegeta- 
ble refuse, average moisture 

Rags, dry 

** average moisture . 

Wood, dry 

* * average moisture 



B.t.u. 
per Pound. 




Authority. 


7,500* 


H. 


de B. Parsons 


800* 




( < 


8,000 X 




Dawson 


S,333 
12,000 


H. 


de B. Parsons 


3,000 




< < 


7,500 * 

5,000 * 






3,800 1 % 




Dawson 


2,500 1 




( t 


5,000 




1 1 


3,333 
7,800 


H. 


< ( 
de B. Parsons 


6,500 




( < 



* Estimated from its composition and verified by its behavior in the incinerators. 

t The author considers these figures too small. 

X Disposal of Municipal Refuse, Trans. Am. Soc. C. E., Vol. LIV, Part E, 1905. 



122 



DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 



gases of combustion after the combustion has been com- 
pleted, and while still at high temperature. 

The experience obtained in England by the burning of 
mixed collections shows an evaporation varying from J pound 
to 2 pounds of water from and at 212° F. per pound of refuse. 
The best results are obtained by the use of artificial drafts 
so as to obtain the benefit of a thorough mixture of the gases 
with the smallest air-supply. The air supplied in the blasts 
is about 3^ pounds * per pound of average mixed refuse. 

In Table X are given some figures on the total heats of com- 
bustion of the constituent elements of refuse. 

Actual Results as Recorded 

RUBBISH COLLECTIONS 

In 1903 and 1904 the Department of Street Cleaning, City 
of New York, made tests on the burning of rubbish, in a build- 
ing in North Moore Street and at the rubbish-incinerating plant, 
foot of West Forty-seventh Street,! with the following results: 



Duration of trial, hours , 

Grate surface, sq. ft 

Boiler heating-surface, sq. ft 

Rubbish burned, pounds 

Temperature of feed-water, degrees F. . . . 

Steam-pressure, pounds 

Water evaporated, pounds 

Equivalent evaporation, from and at 212°, 
pounds 

Equivalent evaporation, from and at 212°, 
pounds per pound of rubbish 

Temperature of furnace, degrees F. . . . 

Ashes removed, pounds 

B.t.u. required for evaporation of water 
from and at 212° F. per pound of rub- 
bish 



North Moore 
Street. 



324 
3324 

56° 

10 
3968.75 

4648 

1 .40 
1500° 



1352-4 



Forty-seventh Street 
Incinerator. 



2 
90 
2760 
9316 

50° 

80 

11,101.00 

13^365 

1-43 
907 

1381.4 



3 
90 
2760 
10,054 

50° 
80 



15*139 
1.50 

1449.0 



* George Watson, Trans. Am. Soc. M. E., Vol. XXV, 1904. 
•f" A description of this plant is given in Chapter IX, 



ECONOMIES 



123 



On 20th and 21st December, 1905, the author conducted 
evaporative tests at the Delancey Slip Incinerator, City of 
Nev^ York, the data and result of which are given below. Each 
boiler, with its furnace, was tested separately, under similar 
conditions.* 

Rubbish-incinerator and Electric-lighting Station, Delancey Slip, 
Borough of Manhattan, New York 

Data and Results of Evaporative Tests. 

Trials made by, H. de B, Parsons. 

Kind of fuel City rubbish-collections. 

Method of starting and stopping Alternate. 

Make of boilers Stirling Water Tubular. 



Data. 



West Boiler. 



6,876 

1,800 

250 



Grate surface of furnace 

Eflfective water-heating surface 

Surface of feed-water heater-coil in flue. 

Total Quantities. 

Date of trial 

Duration of trial 

Weather 

Condition of rubbish 

Weight of rubbish delivered 

Weight of rubbish picked out as 
marketable 

Paper 

Rags 

Cans 

Weight of rubbish burned 

Weight of ash, estimated 

Total weight of water fed to boiler . 
Equivalent water evaporated, from 

and at 212° 

Number of furnace-men . . 

Stokers 

Feeders 

Equivalent evaporation, per man, 
per ton 

Hourly Quantities. 

Rubbish consumed per hour 

Rubbish consumed per hour per square foot 

of grate 

AVater evaporated per hour 

Equivalent evaporated per hour, from and 

at 212° 

Equivalent evaporated per hour, from and 

at 2 1 2° per square foot of heating surface 



113 sq. ft. 
1890 " 
60 " 



20 Dec, 1905 

5 . 5 hours 

Fair 

Dry 

31,193 lbs. 



8,926 



22,267 lbs. 

10% 
29.925 '' 

36,568 " 
9 



365 lbs. 

4048.5 lbs. 

35-8 " 
54409 " 

6648.7 " 
351 " 



East Boiler. 



74 sq. ft. 
1890 •* 
60 " 



21 Dec, 1905 

5.5 hours 

Rainy 

Wet 

21,175 lbs. 



6,435 
610 

200 



7,245 



13,930 lbs. 

10% 
24,675 

30,054 
4 



(Table continued on next page.) 



1078 lbs. 

2532.7 lbs. 

34.2 " 
4486.2 " 

5464.2 " 

2.89 " 



* A description of this plant is given in Chapter IX. 



124 



DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 



Delancey Slip Plant — Continued. 



Data. 



Averages. 

Temperature of external air 

Barometer, inches 

Steam -pressure by gauge 

Temperature of feed -water 

Temperature of gases entering boiler 

Temperature of gases under boiler 

Temperature of gases escaping from boiler 

Force of draft under boiler, inches 

Force of draft in flue to stack, inches. . . . 
Boiler horse-power developed 

Economic Results. 

Water evaporated, actual, per pound of rub- 
bish 

Equivalent evaporation per pound of rub- 
bish 




East Boiler. 



49° F. 
29.64 
100 lbs. 

40° F. 

1740° F. 

1400° F. 

412° F. 

0-55 

115 

■ 158.4 



1 . 77 lbs. 



16 " 



The ashes produced at the Forty-seventh Street and at 
the Delancey Slip rubbish -incinerating plants were analyzed 
by the Lederle Laboratories, with the following results: — 

Sample of Ashes from West Forty-seventh Street Incinerator. 

Moisture 2 . 12% 

Potassium carbonate 2 . 65 

Calcium phosphate i . 98 

Alkaline earth carbonates, silicates, soda, oxides of 

iron and alumina, etc 68 . 05 

Organic and volatile matter (loss on ignition) 25 . 20 

100.00% 

Sample of Ashes from Delancey Slip Incinerator. 

Nails and other metal 5 . 48% 

Broken glass 4 • 05 

Bone phosphate 2.71 

Potash 0.46 

Alkaline earth carbonates, silicates, soda, oxides of 

iron and alumina, etc 60 . 91 

Moisture o • 75 

Organic and volatile matter (loss on ignition) 25 . 64 

100.00% 

The cost of operating the Delancey Slip plant by the city, 
showing the debits an.d credits, is given in the following state- 



ECONOMIES 125 

ment: Prior to the construction of the plant, the material 
was loaded on scows and taken to land fills. (Previous to 
the administration of Commissioner Woodbury, much of this 
material was dumped at sea.) These scow-loads contained 
the collections of ashes, street-sweepings, and rubbish. The 
rubbish was, therefore, reduced in bulk, bo h by compression 
and by the ashes filling in the voids. 

The cost to the city for towing, unloading, and scow hire 
averaged, in 1905, $0.1569 per cubic yard of mixed material. 
From a study of the records kept by the city, the reduction of 
the rubbish, as collected and delivered, occupies o 3 of its 
original volume when loaded on the scows. 

An average day's work at the plant represents about i ,050 
cubic yards of rubbish delivered during twenty- four hours. 

Financial Statement — One Day's Work at Delancey Slip Plant. 

Cost of disposal of rubbish on land fills. 

1,050 cubic yards delivered, compressed on scows, 

after trimming, to 315 cubic yards. 
315 cubic yards at $0. 1569 $49.42 

Cost, Incinerator 

Labor 

Ash removal, 7.6 cubic yards at $0. 1569 $1 . 20 

Supplies and repairs 8 . 00 

Interest, 3^% on $34,193 3-28 

12.48 

Saving per day 36 • 94 

Saving per year, $13,483, or 39.4% on cost. 

Cost, Electric-lighting Station 

Cost of buying electricity $80 . 00 

Labor $20 . 00 

Supplies, repairs, and sundries 8.00 

Interest, 3^% on $49,39i 4-74 

■ 32 • 74 

Saving per day 4726 

Saving per year, $17,250, or 35% on cost. 

The total saving, therefore, on the combined plant is 
$30,733 per annum, or 36.7 per cent. on the cost. 



126 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

There is included in the above no cost for labor charges 
in the incinerator plant, because the privilege of picking out 
the marketable rubbish on the belt conveyor is under contract, 
and the contractor pays to the city a sum which slightly exceeds 
the expenses of labor in the incinerator building, including 
the operation of the boilers. Taxes are not included, because 
the plant was built on city property, purchased to protect 
the bridge structure overhead. 

MIXED COLLECTIONS. 

In English practice 2240 pounds of mixed refuse (ash-bin 
refuse) are collected on the average per 1000 inhabitants per 
day. Each furnace cell has from 30 to 42 square feet of grate- 
surface and consumes about one-third of a long ton per square 
foot per day of 24 hours. 

A test of an incinerating plant at West Hartlepool, England, 
as reported by George Watson,* gave the following results: 

Date of test 28th and 29th Jan., 1904 

Duration of test 48 hours 

Number and type of cells 6 back-to-back 

Total grate-surface i8o square feet 

System of forced draft Steam-jets 

Nature of refuse Ash-pit, f night-soil, market. 

Number of firemen and average wage per day. . . Nine at 5s. 

. , ., f I Babcock and Wilcox, 2,30^ 

Number, size, and type of boilers < 

\ SQuare leet 

Total quantity of refuse burned 272,432 lb. 

" " " " per cell per 24 hours. .. . 22,703 '* 
** ** ** " per square foot of grate 

per hour 31 . 5 lb. 

Tons per man per shift 6.7 tons 

Cost of labor per ton burned 8.9 pence 

Total water evaporated 348,673 lb. 

" " " per hour 7,264'* 

** ** " per square foot of heat- 
ing surface per hour. . 3 . 03 lb. 
* * * * ' * per pound of refuse from 
and at 212° F. or 100° 
C 1.52 " 

* Trans. Am. Soc. M. E., Vol. XXV, 1904. f Or mixed household refuse. 



ECONOMIES 127 

Mean steam -pressure 155 lbs. per square inch 

' ' feed temperature 43° F. 

,, . fl , , f Above 2000° F. (Beyond 

* * mam -flue temperature \ ^ ^j^^*^ 

y range of pyrometer.) 

** temperature behind boiler 534° F. 

Horse-power developed at 20 lbs. steam per 

I.H.P. per hour ^6;^ 

Purpose for which steam is utilized Electric lighting 



CHAPTER VIII 
SNOW REMOVAL 

Carting and Dumping into Water. Contract System Cost of 
Removal in New York. Snow-melting. 

The removal of snow from the streets is a troublesome 
problem. Cold weather, accompanied by sleet, ice, and snow, 
interferes sadly with the collection and disposal of the various 
divisions of city refuse; and to these labors, snow is an addi- 
tional element to be considered, Figs. 39 and 40. 

In many localities the snow is not disturbed except along 
certain streets occupied by trolley-lines. In climates with 
continued cold, this plan of leaving the snow in the streets 
is feasible; but in cUmates having variable temperatures, the 
snow partially melts and the sloppiness of the streets is so dis- 
agreeable as to require some treatment. 

In places situated on rivers, lakes, or any large body of 

water, the snow, while fresh and clean, can be carted and 

dumped into the water. Fig. 41. Fortunately, most of the 

large cities are so situated, when the hauls to the water-front 

are too long, that vacant property can be used. If otherwise, 

such a locality must work out its own plans, as no special rule 

can be given. In moderate climates, where the snowfall is 

not heavy, the snow can be washed by hose connected to the 

hydrants into the sewers during periods of temperature above 

freezing. It, also, can be shovelled into the sewers through 

the manholes. Of course, with heavy falls this latter method is 

128 




Fig. 39- — Piling and Loading Snow into Carts. 




Fig. 40. — Loading Snow into Carts. 



129 




Fig. 41. — Dumping Snow into River. New York. 



T31 



SNOW REMOVAL 133 

not applicable, it being too slow and costly, and the same is 
true if the sewers are not of sufficient capacity to accommodate 
the washing. 

Carting and dumping is a slow and expensive method, and is 
generally limited to the principal thoroughfares. The best 
result is obtained by contracting the clearing and cartage, 
basing the contract on a price per cubic yard of snow 
removed. This yardage is easily obtained by recording the 
snowfall, and having a survey of the area of street surface to 
be cleaned. It is usual to fix a minimum Hmit of snowfall 
before the city orders the work of clearing to begin, say a fall 
of 2 J inches. If a second storm comes before the first has been 
cleared away, the work starts again de novo. 

A contractor is better able to handle the men and carts 
than a city; and the city authorities simply have to inspect 
and certify that the streets, or certain portions of them, have 
been cleared of snow, and can utilize its own force without 
loss of efficiency, for the collection and removal of ashes, 
garbage,, and rubbish. Under the contract system there is 
no dispute as to quantities or pay, if the contract and specifica- 
tions are clearly drawn. The principal trafiic thoroug fares 
should be cleared first, and then the business and residential 
streets in the order of their importance. It also is obviously 
the interest of the contractor to carry away the snow promptly 
and rapidly. If it melts, the contractor makes no profit. 
If it freezes hard, it is not only more difficult to break up and 
shovel into the carts, but the contractor will also collect much 
street refuse with the snow, for which he will receive no pay, 
as Ihe yardage should be figured on the street area times the 
precipitation, and not on the contents of the carts. In the city 
of New York, the annual cost of snow removal from 173 miles 
of streets has been about $500,000, or nearly $3,000 per mile, 
or $0.33 per cubic yard. The yearly expenditure for snow 
removal, however, is dependent on the severity of the winter's 
storms. The contract prices paid in 1905-6 in New York 



134 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

varied from 12 J to 21 cents per cubic yard, according to the 
district served, and most of it is dumped into the rivers. 

Much has been written of the practicabiUty of mehing 
snow by the use of melting- machines or steam-jets. A few 
figures will best illustrate this idea. 

Assume a snowfall of 12 inches at 32° F. Also a length 
of street to be cleared of one mile, having an average width 
of 60 feet from house to house. The snow on the house -roofs 
is not considered, but that on the sidewalks and areas in front 
of the houses is included. Then, 

Volume of snow, in cubic feet 316,800 

Weight of snow, at 12 pounds per cubic foot 3,801,600 

Latent heat of fusion of snow, B.t.u 144 

B.t.u. required to melt snow 547,430,400 

If coal is used as a fuel, having a heat of combus- 
tion of 13,000 B.t.u., and the melting apparatus 
has an efficiency of 65 per cent,* the available 

heat in one pound of coal, in B.t.u 8,450 

Weight of coal required to melt snow, pounds 64,785 

Weight of ashes to be removed, pounds 10,000 

The grate-surface required to burn this coal in 24 
hours, at a rate of 15 pounds per square foot of 
grate per hour, in square feet 180 

As a large- sized fire-engine has a grate-surface of about 
7 square feet, this would represent about 26 fire-engines, 
working at full power for twenty-four hours, to melt away 
the snow from one mile of street. In a city like New York 
this means that one fire-engine would take one full day to 
melt away the snow from every block of 200 feet in length,, 
a process that would be very slow. In reality a large pro- 
portion of the heat in the steam would be used in vaporizing 
the water, and also some would never come in contact with 
the snow. Probably not over 20 per cent would be utilized, 

* This efficiency is purposely taken at a high value for the sake of the argu- 
ment. It would be difficult to obtain probably an efficiency as high as 50 per 
cent. 



SNOW REMOVAL 135 

SO that the above calculation would be five times slower, or 
require five times more coal. 

The chief practical difficulty with snow-melting machines 
is that the snow is brought to them in carts, which must dump 
their loads promptly, and not stand in line and wait their turn. 
The result is that the machines are overpowered, and cannot 
care for the snow as fast as brought. If the delivery be regu- 
lated to suit the machine's capacity, the process becomes too 
slow. The machines could be brought to the snow, — that is, 
follow it up as it is melted away, — but the fact remains that 
no apparatus has yet been made which has been a practical 
success at snow-melting. Also, the machines have to stand 
idle for, say, nine months, for use intermittently during, say, 
three months, which represents the locking up of capital and 
a continuance of stabling expense. 



CHAPTER IX 

PRACTICAL INCINERATION 

Rubbish Incineration. West Forty-seventh Street and Delancey 
SHp, New York. Mixed Refuse Incineration. Hamburg, Bolton, Ful- 
ham, Accrington, Moss Side, Brussels. 

Rubbish-incinerating Plants 

When Colonel George E. Waring was Commissioner of 
the Department of Street Cleaning, city of New York, he 
constructed a rubbish incinerator in Eighteenth Street. This 
was a moderate- sized plant, and somewhat of an experimental 
nature. It showed capabilities for doing good work, but 
through changes in the municipal administration the plant 
was finally abandoned. 

The city of Boston constructed a rubbish-incinerating 
plant, equipped with a belt conveyor and methods for sorting 
out the marketable material, on Atlantic Avenue, in 1898, 
from plans prepared by Colonel W. F. Morse. This plant 
worked very successfully, although the steam generated was 
not used for other purposes than supplying the power in the 
plant itself. 

The city of Buffalo constructed, in 1904, a rubbish -incin- 
erating plant. The heat from the combustion of the rubbish 
was passed through boilers, and the steam generated was 
used in an adjacent building for power purposes. This plant 
was equipped with a belt conveyor and sorting facilities for 

picking out the marketable portion. 

136 







o 



PA 



C/2 



o 







Fig.. 4^. — Rubbish Collections on Scow. New York. 




Fig. 44. — Carts Dumping Rubbish. 



139 




Fig. 45. — Feeding Rubbish into Furnace. 




Fig. 46. — Conveyor and Men Sorting out Material. 



141 



PRACTICAL INCINERATION 143 

West Forty-seventh Street Plant, New York City 

At the request of Commissioner Woodbury, the author, 
in 1902, designed this plant for the incineration of rubbish. 
The plant was located on a pier at the foot of West Forty- 
seventh Street, Borough of Manhattan, City of New York. 
This site was selected through fear of delays, caused by injunc- 
tions from neighbors, should the plant be built on land. 

Prior to the erection of this plant, the material was loaded 
on scows, Fig. 43, together with ashes and street-sweepings, 
and dumped at sea or taken to land-fills. 

A general view of the plant is shown in Fig. 42. The 
plant consists of a brick furnace, divided into three cells 
arranged in series, so that the hot gases of combustion from 
the first and second cells pass over the third cell on their way 
to the stack. Each cell has a grate surface 6 feet long by 5 
feet wide, or a total grate surface of 90 square feet. The 
stack is of steel, 114 feet in height and lined with fire-brick 
to about half its height. The stack has a diameter of 3 feet 
3 inches at the top. 

The furnace is housed in a steel- frame building, covered 
with corrugated iron; and adjacent thereto is a two-story 
building, on the upper floor of which the carts dump their 
loads; and on the lower floor the material picked out as mar- 
ketable is baled and made ready for shipment. 

As first arranged, the carts dumped directly into a hopper. 
Fig. 44, placed on top of the furnace, from which the material 
fell by gravity on a table, whence it was pushed into the cells 
of the furnace, as shown in Fig. 45. 

In order to facilitate the handling of the rubbish, and 
increase the privilege for picking out the marketable portion, 
a conveyor was installed along the upper floor of the two- 
story building adjacent to the furnace. This conveyor is 
shown in Fig. 46, which also shows the men picking out the 
marketable articles, and sorting them, according to classes, 



144 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

into boxes provided for the purpose. The material was drawn 
off from these boxes at the bottom and baled on the floor 
beneath. Fig. 47 shows the conveyor discharging the non- 
marketable portion into the hopper above the furnace. Fig. 48 
shows the baling of the marketable material. 

At one end of the furnace a large door was provided, capa- 
ble of receiving discarded beds, mattresses, and furniture. 
Fig. 49 shows old bedding and furniture awaiting an oppor- 
tunity to be burned in the incinerator. 

One of the principal objects, from an economic standpoint, 
in rubbish incineration is the leaving of the ash- collections 
clean and free from rubbish. When so freed from rubbish, 
the ash-collections become serviceable for first-class filling, 
and as such are at times salable. Fig. 50 shows the ash- col- 
lections when free from rubbish, and should be compared 
with Figs. 22 and 43. 

The heat of the incineration was passed through boilers, 
and the steam generated was utilized in driving the belt- 
conveyor and also a small generator, the electricity from 
which was used for lighting one of the Department of Street 
Cleaning stables situated about 1,000 feet from the plant. 
There was, however, an abundance of steam for other pur- 
poses, although not utilized. This plant cost complete, with- 
out the pier, $20,000. 

A test of the plant is given on page 123, from which it will 
be seen that the rubbish evaporated about 1.46 pounds of 
water from and at 212° F. per pound of rubbish consumed. 

Delancey Slip Plant, New York City 

At the request of Commissioner Woodbury, the author, in 
1905, designed this plant for the incineration of rubbish. The 
plant was located on Delancey Slip, under the Williamsburg 
Bridge, Borough of Manhattan, City of New York. For the 
Commissioner of the Department of Bridges a plant adjacent 




Fig. 47. — Conveyor Discharging into the Furnace. 




Fig. 48. — Bahng the Marketable Material. 



I4S 




Fig. 49. — Old Bedding and Furniture. 




Fig. 50. — Ash Collections when Freed from Rubbish. 



147 



foi( 




DELANCEY SLIP. 
Fig. 51.— Plan of Rubbish-incinerator and Electric-lighting Station under Williamsburg 



Bridge, New York. 



[Face page 14S.] 



PRACTICAL INCINERATION 



149 



'10^, 



; lZh>i->- 




uHm 



1 
22m 






2L 




1 






-1740 



-aM- 



TST- 



U O" 



B 








SECTION BB 



Eloox Level 



• . "''gJ-'O"" 

Tflif D u u unt 



Fig. 52. — Design of Stack. 




Fig. 53. — Street Front of Delancey Slip Incinerator. 




Fig. 54. — Conveyor and Sorting-boxes. Delancey Slij). 



151 




Fig. 55. — Marketable Material Baled for Removal. 







\ 


. ..... J 






-— ^ 


^ ^*r^ ^i^V"**-.^ -''^. \^?^-^' 


^m„£^gg^ 




..^y'. XT'. !'V. . - • ^v;t.;tf 


'^^^1 




^ 



Fig. 56. — Conveyor Discharging on Platform over Furnaces. 

153 



PRACTICAL INCINERATION 1 55 

thereto was designed for utilizing the heat to generate electricity 
for lighting the bridge structure above. 

Fig. 51 shows the general arrangement of the plant. The 
east furnace contained two cells having a total grate surface 
of 74 square feet. The west furnace consisted of a single cell 
with a double grate, having a total grate surface of 113 square 
feet (the area of the lower grate is not included in this estimate), 
and was designed by Mr. Fred. L. Stearns, of the Department 
of Street Cleaning. Both the furnaces were construe ed of 
brick, strongly tied together with buck-stays and rods. The 
heat from each furnace was passed through two Stirling water- 
tubular boilers, each containing 1,890 square feet of effective 
water-heating surface. The heat could also be by-passed, by 
means of dampers, direct to the stack 

The stack was of radial brick construction, 200 feet in 
height, in order that the smoke might be discharged at a point 
above the cables of the bridge. The stack was 5 feet 8 inches 
in diameter at the top, with an ins de area at the top of 15.9 
square feet The design is shown in Fig. 52. 

Fig. 53 shows the street front of the Incinerator Building, 
and the Electric-lighting Station was constructed to match. 
The Incinerator Building was 70 feet wide by 1 50 feet in length, 
and the Electric-lighting Station 50 feet wide by 60 feet in 
length. 

The loaded carts drive into the Incinerator Building and 
dump their loads directly on the conveyor. The conveyor. 
Fig. 54 carried the material between rows of "trimmers," 
who picked out the marketable portion, sorting the articles into 
boxes, from which the material was taken out as required, and 
baled both by hand- and by power-presses. Fig. 55 shows 
some of the material thus ba'ed and ready for removal. 

The discarded portion of the rubbish was discharged by 
the conveyor, Fig. 56, on a steel platform above the furnaces, 
whence it was pushed by hand into feed-holes directly on the 
furnace grates. 



156 DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

Fig. 57 shows a cross-section of the east furnace, and 
Fig. 59 a longitudinal -section. From these figures it will 
be seen that the passage of the material through the furnace 
was downward through the feed-hole, across the grate, with 
the clinker going out through the stoking-doors in front. Fig. 58 
shows the front of the furnace, with the stoking-doors. 

Fig. 60 shows the general arrangement in plan and in 
section through the Electric-lighting Station. This station 
was equipped with two loo-kw. units and one 50-kw. unit, each 
engine being of the direct-connected cross- compound type, with 
the generator placed between the high- and low-pressure 
engines. The engines were jet-condensing, and also arranged 
to exhaust through the roof at atmospheric pressure. 

The electric cables from the switchboard were carried in 
ducts underground to the foot of one of the piers of the inter- 
mediate tower of the bridge, and then up the tower. Fig. 61 » 
to the roadway above, where they connect with the lighting 
system of the bridge. 

Fig. 62 shows a typical steam-pressure card, and a two- 
days' test of the plant is recorded on page 163 together with 
an estimate of the cost of operation. From these records it 
will be noted that the average evaporation was 1.9 pounds 
of water from and at 212° F. per pound of rubbish incinerated. 

Fig. 63 shows the design of the tile- dampers used in the 
flues. Figs. 64 and 65 show the smoke at the top of the stack 
during the test; the former on the first day, when the rubbish 
was dry, and the latter on the second day, when the rubbish 
was wet. Fig. 66 shows the Stirling boilers. 

The cost of the Rubbish -incinerating Plant was $34,193.00,. 
and of the Electric-lighting Station $49,391.00. 

As this plant is situated next to the East River, scows, 
loaded at other receiving- stations are brought to the wharf 
opposite the plant, and kept there as surplus fuel in cases of 
interrruption to the collections from the district. It is pro- 
posed to construct a conveyor from the plant, across East 




Fig. 57. — Cross-section of East Furnace. 




Fig. k8. — Stoking-doors. Front of East Furnace. 



157 



PRACTICAL INCINERATION 



159 




n_ 



>.— Pla 




SECTION 

Fio, 60— Plan and Section through the Electric-lighting Station, Delancey Slip, New Yoik. 



[Face p ige l6o.\ 






Fig. 6i. — Electric Cables Running up Bridge Tower. 

i6i 



PRACTICAL INCINERATION 



163 



140 



130 



120 



110 





































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Fig. 62. — Sample Steam-card, during Hours of Bridge Lighting. 




Iron Rod- 



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A.M. 



Fig. 63. — Tile Damper used in Flue. 







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Fig. 66. — Stirling Boilers. Delancey Slip Incinerator, New York 

167 



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Fig. 67. — Conveyor for Unloading Scows, across East Street. 



[Face page 16S.] 



PRACTICAL INCINERATION l69 

Street, to the bulkhead, Fig. 67, so as to unload these scows and 
carry the material to the second floor over the receiving- 
space in the Incinerator Building, from which it can be dumped 
directly on the main conveyor. 

Mixed-refuse Incinerating Plants 

The incinerating plants for the destruction of garbage 
and mixed refuse have not shovm a successful history in 
America, A number of plants have been constructed in 
America, but, as far as the author is aware, none of them have 
proven thoroughly satisfactory. The history of the plants in 
operation abroad, especially in England, has been much 
brighter, from which it can be inferred that the material supplied 
as fuel is different in Europe from that found in America, or 
that the foreign furnaces are better designed and operated. 
It is also possible that both of these causes contributed to the 
final result. 

From the author's studies and observations, he is not con- 
vinced that there is such a great difference in material dis- 
carded by the people in America from that discarded abroad 
as to render the refuse non-combustible from a practical stand- 
point. Probably no civilized country is more reckless in its 
wastes than America, and while, no doubt, American refuse 
does contain more moisture that European refuse, it also con- 
tains undoubtedly a greater portion of combustible material. 
The author is, therefore, led to believe that the failures in 
America have been caused chiefly by overloading the plants, by 
improper designs, and by the effort to produce a plant at a low 
first cost with the expectation and promises that it will do 
more than it can. 

The primary object in mixed-refuse destruction, for it is 
not practical to bum the garbage alone without some of the 
other classes of refuse as fuel, is to completely burn the material 
into an innocuous ash, and the utilization of any surplus 



lyo DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE 

heat produced should be treated as a secondary consideration 
or a by-product. This utilization of the heat often reduces 
the cost of upkeep of the plant, so as to make the plant a 
success. 

It is not proposed in this book to describe all the foreign 
destructors, descriptions of the best of which can be found in 
technical literature by those interested in designing. The 
most-used English destructors are the Horsfall, Meldrum, 
Beaman & Deas, Manlove, and others not so well known. 

It IS difl&cult to tabulate the costs of incineration, because 
the reports do not make out the statements on exactly the 
same bases. For this reason, the published lists of cost are 
only approximate and oftentimes very misleading. It is safe 
to say, however, that the cost of burning abroad is less than 
in America. The safest way is to determine the amount 
of material which can be handled by one man per shift, and 
then build up an estimate of cost for a proposed plant, check- 
ing this estimate with the figures as published. 

The tests of destructors vary in amount of water evaporated 
from about J pound to 2 pounds per pound of mixed refuse. 

The rubbish furnaces described in this chapter are not 
suited for burning mixed refuse. The mixed -refuse destructors 
are generally divided into cells, each of which is independent 
of the others although each may connect to a smoke-flue com- 
mon to all. The grates are between 30 and 42 square feet in 
area, and are seldom over 6 feet in depth, to facilitate stoking. 

Fig. 68 illustrates the ground plan of the destructor plant 
in Hamburg, Germany, which was erected in 1895. There 
are thirty-six cells, operated by air-blasts from electric fans. 
There are four boilers, aggregating about 360 H.P. 

Fig. 69 illustrates the ground plan of the Refuse Destructor 
Works and Sewage Sludge Pressing Installation, Hacken 
Sewage Works, Bolton, England. The plant contains eight 
destructor cells, operated by a blast fan. There are two 



PRACTICAL IXCI^^ERA Tioy 



171 




Fig. 68. — Refuse-destructor Plant. Hamburg, Germany, 



I 




Fig. 6q. — Hacken Destructor Works, Bolton, England. 



[Fee (■a^-: 172.] 



PRACTICAL INC IN ERA TION 



173 




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PEACTICAL INCINERATION 



177 




Tipping Platform. 
Disinfector House Sheds Ac. below 






Fig. 72. — Destructor Plant, Moss-Side, Manchester, England. 



PRACTICAL INCINERATION 



179 



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Fig. 73. — Destructor Plant. "Brussels, Bele^ium. 



PRACTICAL INCINERATION i8l 

Babcock & Wilcox water- tubular boilers, each containing 1,790 
square feet of heating surface, which evaporate about | of a 
pound of water, from and at 212° F., per pound of refuse 
and sewage sludge. 

Fig. 70 illustrates the ground plan of the destructor plant 
of the Fulham Corporation. This plant contains twelve cells, 
operated by forced draft. There are six boilers, arranged in 
pairs, and the heat from the boilers is passed through econo- 
mizers on its way to the stack. Between the economizers 
and the stack there is a dust-catcher. The steam generated 
is used for electric lighting. 

Fig. 71 illustrates the ground plan of the refuse destructor 
at Accrington. There are six cells, the heat from which is 
passed through wo Lancashire boilers, 30 feet long by 8 feet 
in diameter, and through a feed-water economizer on its way 
to the stack. The steam generated is used for electric-b'ghting. 

Fig. 72 illustrates the ground plan of the refuse destructor 
at Moss Side, a suburb of Manchester. There are six cells, 
the heat from which is passed through two water-tubular 
boilers, the steam from which is used for operating a clinker 
crushing and grinding plant There is available power in 
excess of that required for the clinker plant. 

Fig. 73 illustrates the destructor plant of the city of Brussels, 
Belgium, built in 1892. There are twenty-four cells, operated 
by an air-blast supplied by fans. The heat is passed through 
four Babcock & Wilcox water- tubular boilers, each having 
about 900 square feet of surface. The steam is used to gen- 
erate electricity, which is utilized for operating the plant. 

These destructor plants have been selected as examples, 
and it is not intended that they should be assumed as being 
better than other plants. 



INDEX 



Accrington Destructor Plant, i8i 
Advantages of Incineration, no 
Advantages of Reduction, 109 
Air Supply for Incineration, 108 
Amount of Refuse per Capita, 26, 28, 

Amount of Refuse, Variation in, 28 
Analyses of Ashes from Rubbish 

Incineration, 124 
Analyses of Garbage, 19, 20 
Analyses of Household-ash, 18 
Analyses of Mixed Household- and 

Steam-ash, 18 
Analyses of Rubbish, 23 
Analyses of Street -sweepings, 25, 53 
Analysis of Tankage, 97 
Annual Collections of City Refuse, 27 
Arnold System for Reduction, 96 
Artificial Draft, 107, 121 
Ash Collections, Bins for, 68 
Ash, Household-, 5, 16, 17 
Ash, Steam-, 16 

Ash, Unburned Coal in, 6, 16, 17, 19 
Ash-bin or Ash-pit, 44, 103 
Ashes, 15 
Ashes from Incineration, 103, 107, 

Ashes, Weight of, 16 
Automobile Collection Carts, 46 

Barney Dumper, 93 

Barren Island, Reduction Process at, 

98 
Beaches, Disfigurement of, 93 
Beaman and Deas Destructor, 170 
Benefits of Sanitary Disposal, 2 
Bins for Ash Collections, 68 
Bonus for Reduction, 113, 116 
Boston, Rubbish Incinerator at, 136 
Brussels Destructor Plant, iSi 



Buffalo, Rubbish Incinerator at, 136 
Bulkiness of Rubbish, 44 

Calorific Values of Refuse, 121 
Carting Snow, 133 
Carts for Collections, 46, 53, 54, yr 
Central Receiving Stations, 42, 53, 67 
Character of the Population, 5, 41 
Cheap Disposal, 10 
City Councils, 12 

Classification of City Wastes, 13, 14 
Climate, 4 

Coal, Unburned, in Ash, 6 
Collections, Frequency of, 4, 54, 75 
Collections per Capita, 32, 126 ' 
Collections, Primary, 2, 41, 43 
Collections, Private, 14, 42 
Collections, Pubhc Service, 15, 42 
Combined Collections, 43, 76, 103, 108 
Combustible Material, 6 
Comparative Results, 10 
Compression of Rubbish, 125 
Conditions existing in Municipalities, 

4 
Conveyor for Rubbish, 75, 136, 143, 

155 
Cost, First, 2, 10, 15, 41 
Cost of Incineration, 125 
Cost of Reduction, 98, 109, 113 
Cost of Snow Removal, New York, 

Covers for Carts, 46, 53, 67, 75 
Covers for Receptacles, 45 
Craven, MacDonough, 21 

Dead Animals, 13 

Delancey SHp Incinerator, New York, 

123, 144 
Delahanty Dumper, 93 

183 



184 



INDEX 



Destructors, Refuse, 13, 136, 169 
Disadvantages of Incineration, 11 1 
Disadvantages of Reduction, log 
Disfigurement of Beaches, 93 
Disposal of General Refuse, 15, 41 
Divisions of Waste Materials, 13 
Draft, Artificial, 107 
Dumping-boards, 67 
Dumping into Water, 7, 80 
Dumping on Land, 78 
Dust, 45, 46, 53, 54, 67 

Economies, 112 

Engineering Problem, 8, 12 

Epidemics, 53 

Evaporation per Pound of Refuse, 

119, 122, 126, 170, 181 
Evaporation per Pound of Rubbish, 

122, 123 
Expectorating on Sidewalks, 53 
Expense, First Cost and, 2, 11, 15, 77 

Feeding to Sv^ine, 94 

Fertilizer, 2 

Filling at, Riker's Island, New York, 

80 
Filling in Land, 6, 25, 68, 79, 114 
Final Disposal, Choice of System for, 

78 
Final Disposition, 2, 41, 77, 112 

Fire-bricks for Furnaces, 109 

First Cost, 2 

Flushing Streets with Water, 53 

Forty-seventh Street Incinerator, New 

York, 122, 143 

Frequency of Collecticyns, 54, 75 

Fryer, Alfred, 106 

Fuel, Refuse as, 117 

Fulham Corporation Destructor Plant, 



Gadoues, 103 

Garbage, 4, 9, 15, 19, 42 

Garbage, Analysis of, 19, 20 

Garbage, Rubbish in, 21 

Garbage, Yearly Collections of, New 

York, 43 
Garbage, Value of, 19, 113 
Garbage, Weight of, 21 
General Refuse, 15 
Geographical Location, 6 
Goodrich, W. F., 21 
Government, Municipal, Political, 3, 

4, 6, 7, 10 
Grate-surface of Incinerators, 126, 

I43> 1555 170 



Habits of the People, 41 

Hacken Destructor Works, 170 

Hamburg Destructor Plant, 170 

Haulage, Long and Short, 44, 77, 116 

Health, 2, 6, 10, 41 

Health Board, 3, 8 

Heat of Combustion of Refuse, 121 

Hering, Rudolph, 23 

Horse-power per Pound of Refuse, 

121, 127 
Horse-power per Pound of Rubbish, 

124 
Horsfall Destructor, 170 
Horton, Theodore, 20 
Household-ash, 5, 16, 17 
Household-ash, Analyses of, 18 
Household Refuse, 6 

Incineration, 13, 44, 45, 98, 105 
Incineration, Advantages of, no 
Incineration, Ashes from, 103, 107, 

Incineration, Cost of, 125 
Incineration, Disadvantages of, iii' 
Incineration of Mixed Collections, 126, 

169 
Incineration of Rubbish, 122, 136 
Incinerator, Rubbish, at Delancey 

Slip, 123 
Incinerator, Rubbish, at Forty-seventh 

Street, 122 
Industries of the People, 5 

Kitchen Garbage, 19 

Land, Dumping on, 79, 114 
Location of a Municipality. 6 

Machines for Sweeping, 54 

Manlove Destructor, 170 

Marshes for Filling, 6 

Measuring Snow Removal, 133 

Meldrum Destructor, 170 

Melting Snow, 134 

Merz System for Reduction, 96 

Metal Pockets, 68 

Methods of Disposal, 78, 112 

Mixed Collections, Incineration of, 

126, 169 
Morse, W. F., 136 
Moss Side Destructor Plant, i8t 
Municipal Collections, 15, 42 
Municipal Government, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10 
Municipal Reports, 10 

Nuisance, 4, 9, 10, 12, 15, 106 



INDEX 



l8S 



Object of Disposal System, lo 
Odors, 9, 19, 21, 25 
Odors from Reduction, 96 
Odors from Rubbish, 22 
Origin of Refuse, 42 

Picking over Refuse, 11, 22, 23, 43, 68, 

75> 114 
Ploughing into Soil, 93 
Pockets, Metal, 68 
Practical Considerations, 2 
Primary Collections, 2, 46 
Primary Separation System, 46, 79, 

94 
Private Collections, 14, 42, 53 
Problem of Disposal, i, 2, 4, 9, 10, 15 
Public Service Collections, 15 42 

Rates of Combustion, 122, 123, 126 
Receiving Stations, 42, 153, 67, 68, 77, 

116 
Receptacles for Ashes, 45, 68 
Receptacles for Garbage, 45 
Receptacles for Refuse, 2, 6, 43, 45 
Receptacles for Rubbish, 46 
Receptacles for Street-sweepings, 54, 

67 
Reduction, Advantages of, 109 
Reduction, Disadvantages of, 109 
Reduction of Garbage, 43, 95 
Reduction Process, 94, 105 
Reduction Process at Barren Island, 

98 
Refuse, Amount of, per Capita, 26, 28 
Refuse, Classification of, 13 
Refuse, Combined, 108 
Refuse, Household, 6 
Reports, Municipal, 10 
Results, Comparative, 10 
Revenues from Refuse, 113, 117 
Riker's Island, Filling at, 80 
Rubbish, 15, 21 
Rubbish as Fuel, 107 
Rubbish, Composition of, 23 
Rubbish in Garbage, 21 
Rubbish Incineration, 122, 136 
Rubbish in Street-sweepings, 24 
Rubbish, Value of, 22 
Rubbish, Weight of, 21 

Sacks for Street-sweepings, 54 
Sanitary Conditions, 3, 42, 98 
Sanitary Disposal, 8, 9, 10, 15, 41 
Scavenging, 2 
Selling Picked Refuse, 11 
Separate Collection, 43, 46, 103 



Separation of the Wastes, 6 

Sidewalk Cans, 67 

Simonin System for Reduction, 96 

Slop, 19 

Smells, 8, 9, 22, 25 

Snow, 15 

Snow Melting, 134 

Snow Removal, 128 

Snow^ Removal, Cost of, New York, 

133 
Soil, Ploughing into, 93 
Sorting or Trimming, 11, 22, 23, 43, 

68, 75, 114 
Spitting on Sidewalks, 53 
Sprinkling, 54 
Steam-ash, 16 

Steam-ash, Combustible in, 16, 17 
Storms and Snow, Streets blocked 

by, 43 
Street-sweepings, 15, 24 
Street-sweepings, Composition of, 25, 

53 
Street-sweepings, Value of, 24 
Street-sweepings, Weight of, 25 
Suburban Districts, 6 
Swamps for Filling, 6 
Sweeping-machines, 54 
Swill, 19 

Swine, Feeding to, 94 
System for Collection, Choice of, 

43 
System for Disposal, Choice of, 78 

Tankage, 96 

Taylor, Joseph B., 20 

Temperature in Furnace, 107, 117, 121 

Tenement -house Districts, 6 

Tipples, 67 

Trash, 21 

Trimming, 11, 22, 23, 43, 68,75, 1^4 

Unhealthy, 9 

Value of Ashes, 44, 114, 144 

Value of Garbage, 19, 113 

Value of Merchantable Portion of 

Refuse, 43, 45, 68, 75, 79 
Value of Picking at the Dumps, 23, 

114 
Value of Refuse as a Fuel, 117 
Value of Rubbish, 22, 44, 114 
Value of Street-sweepings, 24, 115 
Variations in Refuse per Capita, 26 

Washing Snow into the Sewers, 128 



i86 



INDEX 



Washing the Streets by Hose, 54 
Waste Materials, Classification of, 

Water, Dumping into, 7, 80 

Watson, George, 126 

Weight of Ashes, t6 

Weight of Annual Collections, 27 



Weight of Collections per Capita, 26, 

28, 32 
Weight of Garbage. 21 
Weight of Rubbish, 21 45 
Weight of Street-sweepings. 25 
West Forty-seventh Street Incineratoi 

143 



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Powell's Army Officer's Examiner i2mo, 4 00 

Sharpe's Art of Subsisting Armies in War i8mo, morocco i 50 

* Tupes and Poole's Manual of Bayonet Exercises and Musketry Fencing. • 

24mo, leather, 50 

* Walke's Lectures on Explosives 8vo, 4 00 

* Wheeler's Siege Operations and Military Mining 8vo, 2 00 

Winthrop's Abridgment of Military Law i2mo, 2 50 

Woodhull's Notes on Military Hygiene i6mo, i 50 

Young's Simple Elements of Navigation i6mo, morocco, 2 o 

o 

ASSAYING. 

Fletcher's Practical Instructions in Quantitative Assaying with the Blowpipe. 

i2mo, morocco, 

Furman's Manual of Practical Assaying 8vo, 

Lodge's Notes on Assaying and Metallurgical Laboratory Experiments. . . .8vo, 

Low's Technical Methods of Ore Analysis 8vo, 

Miller's Manual of Assaying i2mo, 

Minet's Production of Aluminum and its Industrial Use. (Waldo.) i2mo, 

O'Driscoll's Notes on the Treatment of Gold Ores 8vo, 

Ricketts and Miller's Notes on Assaying 8vo, 

Robine and Lenglen's Cyanide Industry. (Le Clerc.) Svo, 

Ulke's Modern Electrolytic Copper Refining Svo, 

Wilson's Cyanide Processes i2mo, 

Chlorination Process i2mo, 

ASTRONOMY. 

Comstock's Field Astronomy for Engineers 8vo, 2 50 

Craig's Azimuth 4to, 3 50 

Doolittle's Treatise on Practical Astronomy Svo, 4 00 

Gore's Elements of Geodesy Svo, 2 50 

Hayford's Text-book of Geodetic Astronomy 8v©, 3 00 

Merriman's Elements of Precise Surveying and Geodesy Svo, 2 50 

* Michie and Harlow's Practical Astronomy Svo, 3 00 

* White's Elements of Theoretical and Descriptive Astronomy i2mo, 2 00 

BOTANY. 

Davenport's Statistical Methods, with Special Reference to Biological Variation. 

i6mo, morocco, i 25 

Thome and Bennett's Structural and Physiological Botany i6mo, 2 23 

Westermaier's Compendium of General Botany. (Schneider.). Svo, 2 00 

CHEMISTRY. 

Adriance's Laboratory Calculations and Specific Gravity Tables i2mo, i 25 

Allen's Tables for Iron Analysis Svo, 3 00 

Arnold's Compendium of Chemistry. (Mandel.) Small Svo, 3 50 

Austen's Notes for Chemical Students i2mo, i 50 

Bernadou's Smokeless Pow'der. — Nitro-cellulose, and Theory of the Cellulose 

Molecule i2mo, 2 50 

* Browning's Introduction to the Rarer Elements Svo, i 50 

3 



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Brush and Penfield's Manual of Determinative Mineralogy -. . . ivo, 4 00 

Classen's Quantitative Chemical Analysis by Electrolysis. (Eoltwccd.). .8vo, 3 00 

Cohn's Indicators and Test-papers i2mo, 2 00 

Tests and Reagents 8vo, 3 00 

Crafts's Short Course in Qualitative Chemical Analysis. (Schaefler.). . .i2mo, i 50 
Dolezalek's Theory of the Lead Accumulator (Storage Battery). (Von 

Ende.) i2nio, 2 50 

Drechsel's Chemical Reactions. (Merrill.) i2mo, i 25 

Duhem's Thermodynamics and Chemistry. (Burgess.) 8vo, 4 00 

Eissler's Modern High Explosives Svo, 4 00 

Effront's Enzymes and their Applications. (Prescott.) Svo^ 3 00 

Erdmann's Introduction to Chemical Preparations. (Dunlap.) i2mo, i 25 

Fletcher's Practical Instructions in Quantitative Assaying with the Blowpipe. 

lamo, morocco, i 50 

Fowler's Sewage Works Analyses i2nio, 2 00 

Fresenius's Manual of Qualitative Chemical Analysis. (Wells.) Svo, 5 00 

Manual of Qualitative Chemical Analysis. Part I. Descriptive. (Wells.) Svo, 3 00 

System of Instruction in Quantitative Chemical Analysis. (Cohn.) 

2 vols Svo, 12 50 

Fuertes's Water and Public Health i2mo, i 50 

Furman's Manual of Practical Assaying Svo, 3 00 

* Getman's Exercises in Physical Chemistry i2mo, 2 00 

Gill's Gas and Fuel Analysis for Engineers i2mo, i 25 

Grotenfelt's Principles of Modern Dairy Practice. (Woll.) i2mo, 2 00 

Hammarsten's Text-book of Physiological Chemistry. (Mandel.) Svo, 4 00 

Helm's Principles of Mathematical Chemistry. (Morgan.) i2mo, i 50 

Bering's Ready Reference Tables (Conversion Factors) i6mo, morocco, 2 50 

Hind's Inorganic Chemistry Svo, 3 00 

* Laboratory Manual for Students i2mo, i 00 

HoUeman's Text-book of Inorganic Chemistry. (Cooper.) Svo, 2 50 

Text-book of Organic Chemistry. (Walker and Mott.) Svo, 2 50 

* Laboratory Manual of Organic Chemistry. (Walker.) i2mo, i 00 

Hopkins's Oil-chemists' Handbook Svo, 3 00 

Jackson's Directions for Laboratory Work in Physiological Chemistry. .Svo, i 25 

Keep's Cast Iron Svo, 2 50 

Ladd's Manual of Quantitative Chemical Analysis i2mo, i 00 

Landauer's Spectrum Analysis. (Tingle.) Svo, 3 00 

* Langworthy and Austen. The Occurrence of Aluminium in Vegetable 

Products, Animal Products, and Natural Waters Svo, 2 00 

Lassar-Cohn's Practical Urinary Analysis. (Lorenz.) i2mo, i 00 

AppUcation of Some General Reactions to Investigations in Organic 

Chemistry. (Tingle.) i2mo, i 00 

Leach's The Inspection and Analysis of Food with Special Reference to State 

Control Svo, 7 50 

Lob's Electrochemistry of Organic Compounds. (Lorenz.) Svo, 3 00 

Lodge's Notes on Assaying and Metallurgical Laboratory Experiments. .. .Svo, 3 00 

Low's Technical Method of Ore Analysis '. . . Svo, 3 00 

Lunge's Techno-chemical Analysis. (Cohn.) ? . . . . i2mo i 00 

* McKay and Larsen's Principles and Practice of Butter-making Svo. i 50 

Mandel's Handbook for Bio-chemical Laboratory i2mo, i 50 

* Martin's Laboratory Guide to Qualitative Analysis with the Blowpipe . . i2mo, 60 
Mason's Water-supply. (Considered Principally from a Sanitary Standpoint.) 

3d Edition, Rewritten .• . Svo, 4 00 

Examination of Water. (Chemical and Bacteriological.) i2mo, i 25 

Matthew's The Textile Fibres Svo, 3 50 

Meyer's Determination of Radicles in Carbon Compounds. (Tingle.). .i2mo, i 00 

Miller's Manual of Assaying i2mo, i 00 

Minet's Production of Aluminum and its Industrial Use. (Waldo.) . . . . i2mo, 2 So 

Mixter's Elementary Text-book of Chemistry i2mo, i 50 

Morgan's An Outline of the Theory of Solutions and its Results i2mo, i 00 

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Morgan's Elements of Physical Chemistry i2mo, 

* Physical Chemistry for Electrical Engineers i2mo, 

Morse's Calculations used in Cane-sugar Factories i6mo, morocco, 

MuUiken's General Method for the Identification of Pure Organic Compounds. 

Vol. I Large 8vo, 

O'Brine's Laboratory Guide in Chemical Analysis 8vo, 

O'DriscoU's Notes on the Treatment of Gold Ores 8vo, 

Ostwald's Conversations on Chemistry. Part One. (Ramsey.) i2mo, 

Part Two. (Turnbull.) i2mo, 

* Penfield's Notes on Determinative Mineralogy and Record of Mineral Tests. 

8vo, paper, 

Pictet's The Alkaloids and their Chemical Constitution. (Biddle.) 8vo, 

Pinner's Introduction to Organic Chemistry. (Austen.) i2mo, 

Poole's Calorific Power of Fuels 8vo, 

Prescott and Winslow's Elements of Water Bacteriology, with Special Refer- 
ence to Saaitary Water Analysis i2mo, 

* Reisig's Guide to Piece-dyeing 8vo, 

Richards and Woodman's Air, Water, and Food from a Sanitary Stand- 
point 8vo, 2 oa 

Ricketts and Russell's Skeleton Notes upon Inorganic Chemistry. (Part I. 

Non-metallic Elements.) 8vo, morocco, 

Ricketts and Miller's Notes on Assaying 8vo, 

Rideal's Sewage and the Bacterial Purification of Sewage 8vo, 

Disinfection and the Preservation of Food 8vo, 

Riggs's Elementary Manual for the Chemical Laboratory 8vo, 

Robine and Lenglen's Cyanide Industry. (Le Clerc.) 8vo, 

Rostoski's Serum Diagnosis. (Bolduan.) i2mo, 

Ruddiman's Incompatibilities in Prescriptions 8vo, 

* Whys in Pharmacy i2mo, 

Sabin's Industrial and Artistic Technology of Paints and Varnish 8vo, 

Salkowski's Physiological and Pathological Chemistry. (Orndorff.) 8vo, 

Schimpf's Text-book of Volumetric Analysis i2mo. 

Essentials of Volumetric Analysis i2mo, 

* Qualitative Chemical Analysis 8vo, 

Spencer's Handbook for Chemists of Beet-sugar Houses. .... i6mo, morocco, 

Handbook for Cane Sugar Manufacttirers i6mo, morocco, 

Stockbridge's Rocks and Soils 8vo, 

* Tillman's Elementary Lessons in Heat 8vo, 

* Descriptive General Chemistry 8vo, 

Treadwell's QuaUtative Analysis. (Hall.) 8vo, 

Quantitative Analysis. (Hall.) 8vo, 

Turneaure and Russell's Public Water-supplies 8vo, 

Van Deventer's Physical Chemistry for Beginners. (Boltwood.) i2mo, 

* Walke's Lectures on Explosives 8vo, 

Ware's Beet-sugar Manufacture and Refining Small 8vo, cloth, 

Washington's Manual of the Chemical Analysis of Rocks 8vo, 

Wassermann's Immune Sera : Heemolysins, Cytotoxins, and Precipitins. (Bol- 
duan.) i2mo, 

Wells's Laboratory Guide in QuaUtative Chemical Analysis, 8vo, 

Short Course in Inorganic Qualitative Chemical Analysis for Engineering 

Students i2mo, 

Text-book of Chemical Arithmetic i2mo, 

Whipple's Microscopy of Drinking-water 8vo, 

Wilson's Cyanide Processes i2mo, 

Chlorination Process i2mo, 

Winton's Microscopy of Vegetable Foods 8vo, 

Wulling's Elementary Course in Inorganic, Pharmaceutical, and Medical 

Chemistry i2mo, 

5 





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CIVIL ENGINEERING. 

BRIDGES AND ROOFS HYDRAULICS. MATERIALS OF ENGINEERING. 

RAILWAY ENGINEERING. 

Baker's Engineers' Surveying Instruments i2mo 

Bixby's Graphical Computing Table Paper i9iX24i inches 

** Burr's Ancient and Modern Engineering and the Isthmian Cana ». (Postage 

27 cents additional.). 8vo 

Comstock's Field Astronomy for Engineers 8vo 

Davis's Elevation and Stadia Tables 8vo 

Elliott's Engineering for Land Drainage i2mo 

Practical Farm Drainage , i2mo 

*Fiebeger's 1?reatise on Civil Engineering Svo 

Flemer's Phototop©graphic Methods and Instruments Svo 

Folwell's Sewerage. (Designing and Maintenance.) Svo 

Freitag's Architectural Engineering. 2d Edition, Rewritten Svo 

French and Ives's Stereotomy Svo 

Goodhue's Municipal Improvements i2mo 

Goodrich's Economic Disposal of Towns' Refuse Svo 

Gore's Elements of Geodesy Svo 

Hayford's Text-book of Geodetic Astronomy Svo 

Bering's Ready Reference Tables (Conversion Factors) i6mo, morocco 

Howe's Retaining Walls for Earth i2mo 

Johnson's (J. B.) Theory and Practice of Surveying Small Svo 

Johnson's (L. J.) Statics by Algebraic and Graphic Methods Svo 

Laplace's Philosophical Essay on Probabilities. (Truscott and Emory.) . i2mo 
Mahan's Treatise on Civil Engineering. (1S73.) (Wood.) Svo 

* Descriptive Geometry Svo 

Merriman's Elements of Precise Surveying and Geodesy Svo 

Merriman and Brooks's Handbook for Surveyors i6mo, morocco 

Nugent's Plane Surveying. . . ^ Svo 

Ogden's Sewer Design i2mo 

Patton's Treatise on Civil Engineering Svo half leather 

Reed's Topographical Drawing and Sketching 4to 

Rideal's Sewage and the Bacterial Purification of Sewage Svo 

Siebert and Biggin's Modern Stone-cutting and Masonry Svo 

Smith's Manual of Topographical Drawing. (McMillan.X Svo 

Sondericker's Graphic Statics, with Applications to Trusses, Beams, and Arches 

Svo 
Taylor and Thompson's Treatise on Concrete, Plain and Reinforced Svo 

* Trautwire's Civil Engineer's Fccket-fcook i6mo, morocco 

V/ait's Engirxeering and Archi ectural Jurisprudence Svo 

Sheep 
Law of Operations Preliminary to Construction in Engineering and Archi- 
tecture Svo 

Sheep 

Law of Contracts 8vo 

Warren's Stereotomy — Problems in Stone-cutting Svo 

Webb's Problems in the Use and Adjustment of Engineering Instruments 

i6mo, morocco 

Wilson's Topographic Surveying Svo 



BRIDGES /.ND ROOFS. 

Boiler's Practical Treatise on the Construction of Iron Highway Bridges. Svo, 2 00 

* Thames River Bridge 4to, paper, 5 00 

Burr's Course on the Stresses in Bridges and Roof Trusses, Arched Ribs, and 

Suspension Bridges Svo, 3 5« 

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50 



Burr and Falk's Influence Lines for Bridge and Roof Computations. . . .8vo, 3 00 

Design and Construction of Metallic Bridges 8vo, 5 00 

Du Bois's Mechanics of Engineering. Vol. II Small 4to, 10 00 

Foster's Treatise on Wooden Trestle Bridges 4to, 5 00 

Fowler's Ordinary Foundations 8vo, 3 50 

Greene's Roof Trusses Svo, i 25 

Bridge Trusses Svo, 2 50 

Arches in Wood, Iron, and Stone Svo, 2 50 

Howe's Treatise on Arches Svo, 4 00 

Design of Simple Roof- trusses in Wood and Steel Svo, 2 00 

Johnson, Bryan, and Turneaure's Theory and Practice in the Designing of 

Modern Framed Structures Small 4to, 10 00 

Merriman and Jacoby's Text-book on Roofs and Bridges : 

Part I. Stresses in Simple Trusses Svo, 2 50 

Part II. Graphic Statics Svo, 2 50 

Part III. Bridge Design Svo, 2 50 

Part IV. Higher Structures Svo, 2 50 

Morison's Memphis Bridge 4to, 10 00 

Waddeli's De Pontibus, a Pocket-book for Bridge Engineers. . i6mo, morocco, 2 00 

♦Specifications for Steel Bridges i2mo, 50 

Wright's Designing of Draw-spans. Two parts in one volume Svo, 3 50 



HYDRAULICS. 

Bazin's Experiments upon the Contraction of the Liquid Vein Issuing from 

an Orifice. (Trautwine.) Svo, 2 00 

Bovey's Treatise on Hydraulics Svo, 5 00 

Church's Mechanics of Engineering Svo, 6 00 

Diagrams of Mean Velocity of Water in Open Channels paper, i 50 

Hydraulic Motors Svo, 2 00 

Coffin's Graphical Solution of Hydraulic Problems i6mo, morocco, 2 50 

Flather's Dynamometers, and the Measurement of Power i2m9, 3 00 

Folwell's Water-supply Engineering Svo, 4 00 

Frizell's Water-power , Svo, 5 00 

Fuertes's Water and Public Health i2mo, i 50 

Water-filtration Works i2mo, 2 50 

Ganguillet and Kutter's General Formula for the Uniform Flow of Water in 

Rivers and Other Channels. (Hering and Trautwine.) Svo, 4 00 

Hazen's Filtration of Public Water-supply Svo, 3 00 

Hazlehurst's Towers and Tanks for Water-works Svo, 2 50 

Herschel's 115 Experiments on the Carrying Capacity of Large, Riveted, Metal 

Conduits Svo, 2 00 

Mason's Water-supply. (Considered Principally from a Sanitary Standpoint.) 

Svo, 4 00 

Merriman's Treatise on Hydraulics Svo, 5 00 

* Michie's Elements of Analytical Mechanics Svo, 4 00 

Schuyler's Reservoirs for Irrigation, Water-power, and Domestic Water- 
supply Large Svo, 5 00 

** Thomas and Watt's Improvement of Rivers. (Post., 44c. additional. ).4to, 6 00 

Turneaure and Russell's Public Water-supplies Svo, 5 00 

Wegmann's Design and Construction of Dams 4to, 5 00 

Water-supply of the City of New York from 165S to iSps 4to, 10 00 

Williams and Hazen's Hydraulic Tables Svo, i 50 

Wilson's Irrigation Engineering Small Svo, 4 00 

Wolff's Windmill as a Prime Mover Svo, 3 00 

Wood's Turbines Svo, 2 50 

Elements of Analytical Mechanics .Svo, 3 00 

7 



MATERIALS OF ENGINEERING. 

Baker's Treatise on Masonry Construction 8vo, 

Roads and Pavements 8vo, 

Black's United States Pjiblic Works Oblong 4to, 

* Bovey's Strength of Materials and Theory of Structures 8vo, 

Burr's Elasticity and Resistance of the Materials of Engineering Svo, 

Byrne's Highway Construction Svo, 

Inspection of the Materials and Workmanship Employed in Construction. 

i6mo, 

Church's Mechanics of Engineering Svo, 

Du Bois's Mechanics of Engineering. Vol. I Small 4to, 

*Eckers Cements, Limes, and Plasters Svo, 

Johnson's Materials of Construction Large Svo, 

Fowler's Ordinary Foundations Svo, 

* Greene's Structural Mechanics Svo, 

Keep's Cast Iron Svo, 

Lanza's Applied Mechanics Svo, 

Marten's Handbook on Testing Materials. (Henning.) 2 vols Svo, 

Maurer's Technical Mechanics Svo, 

Merrill's Stones for Building and Decoration Svo, 

Merriman's Mechanics of Materials Svo, 

Strength of Materials i2mo, 

Metcalf's Steel. A Manual for Steel-users i2mo, 

Patton's Practical Treatise on Foundations Svo, 

Richardson's Modern Asphalt Pavements Svo, 

Richey's Handbook for Superintendents of Construction i6mo, mor,, 

Rockwell's Roads and Pavements in France i2mo, 

Sabin's Industrial and Artistic Technology of Paints and Varnish Svo, 

Smith's Materials of Machines i2mo. 

Snow's Principal Species of Wood Svo, 

Spalding's Hydraulic Cement lamo. 

Text-book on Roads and Pavements i2mo, 

Taylor and Thompson's Treatise on Concrete, Plain and Reinforced Svo, 

Thurston's Materials of Engineering. 3 Parts Svo, 

Part I. Non-metallic Materials of Engineering and Metallurgy Svo, 

Part II. Iron and Steel Svo, 

Part III. A Treatise on Brasses, Bronzes, and Other Alloys and their 

Constituents Svo, 

Thurston's Text-book of the Materials of Construction Svo, 

Tillson's Street Pavements and Paving Materials Svo, 

Waddell's De Pontibus. (A P»cket-book for Bridge Engineers.) . . i6mo, m®r.. 

Specifications for Steel Bridges i2mo. 

Wood's (De V.) Treatise on the Resistance of Materials, and an Appendix on 

the Preservation of Timber Svo, 

Wood's (De V.) Elements of Analytical Mechanics Svo, 

Wood's (M. P.) Rustless Coatings: Corrosion and Electrolysis of Iron and 

Steel Svo, 4 00 



RAILWAY ENGINEERING. 

Andrew's Handbook for Street Railway Engineers 3x5 inches, morocco, i 25 

Berg's Buildings and Structures of American Railroads 4to, 5 00 

Brook's Handbook of Street Railroad Location i6mo, morocco, i 50 

Butt's Civil Engineer's Field-book i6mo, morocco, 2 50 

Crandall's Transition Curve i6mo, morocco, i 50 

Railway and Other Earthwork Tables Svo, 1 50 

Dawson's "Engineering" and Electric Traction Pocket-book. . i6mo, moroccOj 5 00 



5 


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Dredge's History of the Pennsylvania Railroad: (1879) Paper, 

* Drinker's Tunnelling, Explosive Compounds, and Rock Drills. 4to, half mor., 

Fisher's Table of Cubic Yards Cardboard, 

Godwin's Raikroad Engineers' Field-book and Explorers' Guide. . . i6mo, mor., 

Howard's Transition Curve Field-book i6mo, morocco, 

Hudson's Tables for Calculating the Cubic Contents of Excavations and Em- 
bankments 8vo, 

Molitor and Beard's Manual for Resident Engineers i6mo, 

Nagle's Field Manual for Railroad Engineers i6mo, morocco, 

Philbrick's Field Manual for Engineers i6mo, morocco, 

Searles's Field Engineering i6mo, morocco, 

Railroad Spiral i6mo, morocco, 

Taylor's Prismoidal Formulae and Earthwork 8vo, 

* Trautwine's Method of Calculating the Cube Contents of Excavations and 

Embankments by the Aid of Diagrams 8vo, 2 00 

The Field Practice of Laying Out Circular Curves for Railroads. 

i2mo, morocco, 2 50 

Cross-section Sheet Paper, 25 

"Webb's Railroad Construction i6mo, morocco, 5 00 

"Wellington's Economic Theory of the Location of Railways Small 8vo, 5 00 



DRAWING. 

Barr's Kinematics of Machinery 8vo, 

* Bartlett's Mechanical Drawing 8vo, 

* " " " Ab-ridgedEd Svo, 

Coolidge's Manual of Drawing Svo, paper 

Coolidge and Freeman's Elements of General Drafting for Mechanical Engi- 
neers Oblong 4to, 

Durley's Kinematics of Machines 8v©, 

Emch's Introduction to Projective Geometry and its Applications Svo, 

Hill's Text-book on Shades and Shadows, and Perspective Svo, 

Jamison's Elements of Mechanical Drawing Svo, 

Advanced Mechanical Drawing Svo, 

Jones's Machine Design: 

Part L Kinematics of Machinery Svo, 

Part n. Form, Strength, and Proportions of Parts Svo, 

MacCord's Elements of Descriptive Geometry Svo, 

Kinematics; or, Practical Mechanism Svo, 

Mechanical Drawing 4to, 

"Velosity Diagrams Svo, 

MacLeod's Descriptive Geometry Small Svo, 

* Mahan's Descriptive Geometry and Stone-cutting Svo, 

Industrial Drawing. (Thompson.) Svo, 

Moyer's Descriptive Geometry Svo, 

Reed's Topographical Drawing and Sketching 4to, 

Reid's Course in Mechanical Drawing Svo, 

Text-book ©f Mechanical Drawing and Elementary Machine Design. Svo, 

Robinson's Principles of Mechanism Svo, 

Schwamb and Merrill's Elements of Mechanism Svo, 

Smith's (R. S.) Manual of Topographical Drawing. (McMillan.) Svo, 

Smith (A. "W.) and Marx's Machine Design 8vo, 

Warren's Elements of Plane and Solid Free-hand Geometrical Drawing. i2mo. 

Drafting Instruments and Operations i2mo. 

Manual of Elementary Projection Drawing i2mo. 

Manual of Elementary Problems in the Linear Perspective of Form and 

Shadow i2mo. 

Plane Problems in Elementary Geometry i2mo, 

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Warren's Primary Geometry i2mo, 75 

Elements of Descriptive Geometry, Shadows, and Perspective 8vo, 3 50 

General Problems of Shades and Shadows 8vo, 3 00 

Elements of Machine Construction and Drawing 8vo, 7 50 

Problems, Theorems, and Examples in Descriptive Geometry Svo, 2 50 

Weisbach's Kinematics [and Power of Transmission. (Hermann and 

Klein.) Svo, 5 Oq 

Whelpley's Practical Instruction in the Art of Letter Engraving i2mo, 2 00 

Wilson's (H. M.) Topographic Surveying Svo, 3 50 

Wilson's (V. T.) Free-hand Perspective Svo, 2 50 

Wilson's (V. T.) Free-hand Lettering Svo, i 00 

Woolf's Elementary Course in Descriptive Geometry Large Svo, 3 00 

ELECTRICITY AND PHYSICS. 

Anthony and Brackett's Text-book of Physics. (Magie.) Small Svo, 

Anthony's Lecture-notes on the Theory of Electrical Measurements. . . .i2mo, 
Benjamin's History of Electricity Svo, 

Voltaic Cell Svo, 

Classen's Quantitative Chemical Analysis by Electrolysis. (Boltwood.).8vo, 

Crehore and Squier's Polarizing Photo-chronograph Svo, 

Dawson's "Engineering" and Electric Traction Pocket-book. i6mo, morocco, 
Dolezalek's Theory of the Lead Accumulator (Storage Battery). (Von 

Ende.). i2mo, 

Duhem's Thermodynamics and Chemistry. (Burgess.) Svo, 

Flather's Dynamometers, and the Measurement of Power i2mo, 

Gilbert's De Magnete. (Mottelay.) Svo, 

Hanchett's Alternating Currents Explained i2mo, 

Hering's Ready Reference Tables (Conversion Factors) i6mo, morocco, 

Holman's Precision of Measurements Svo, 

Telescopic Mirror-scale Method, Adjustments, and Tests. . . .Large Svo, 

Xinzbrunner's Testing of Continuous-current Machines Svo, 

Landauer's Spectrum Analysis. (Tingle.) Svo, 

Le Chatelier s High-temperature Measurements. (Boudouard — Burgess.) i2mo. 
Lob's Electrochemistry of Organic Compounds. (Lorenz.) Svo, 

* Lyons'? Treatise on Electromagnetic Phenomena. Vols. I. and II. Svo, each, 

* Michie's Elements of Wave Motion Relating to Sound and Light Svo, 

Niaudet's Elementary Treatise on Electric Batteries. (Fishback.) i2mo, 

* Rosenberg's Electrical Engineering. (Haldane Gee — Kinzbrunner.). . .Svo, 

Ryan, Norris, and Hoxie's Electrical Machinery. Vol. I Svo, 

Thurston's Stationary Steam-engines Svo, 

* Tillman's Elementary Lessons in Heat Svo, 

Tory and Pitcher's Manual of Laboratory Physics Small Svo, 

Ulke's Modern Electrolytic Copper Refining Svo, 

LAW. 

* Davis's Elements of Law Svo, 

* Treatise on the Military Law of United States Svo, 

* Sheep, 

Manual for Courts-martial i6mo, morocco, 

Wait's Engineering and Architectural Jurisprudence Svo, 

Sheep, 
Law of Operations Preliminary to Construction in Engineering and Archi- 
tecture 8vo 

Sheep, 

Law of Contracts 8vo, 

Winthrop's Abridgment of Military Law lamOi, 

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MANUFACTURES. 

Bernadou's Smokeless Powder — Nitro-cellulose and Theory of the Cellulose 

Molecule i2mo, 2 50 

Bolland's Iron Founder i2mo, 2 50 

" The Iron Founder," Supplement i2mo, 2 50 

Encyclopedia af Founding and Dictionary of Foundry Terms Used in the 

Practice of Moulding i2mo, 3 00 

* Eckel's Cements, Limes, and Plasters 8vo, 6 00 

Eissler's Modern High Explosives 8vo, 4 00 

Eflfront's Enzymes and their Applications, (Prescott.) 8vo, 3 00 

Fitzgerald's Boston Machinist i2mo, i 00 

Ford's Boiler Making for Boiler Makers iSmo, i 00 

Hopkin's Oil-chemists' Handbook 8vo, 3 00 

Keep's Cast Iron 8vo, 2 50 

Leach's The Inspection and Analysis of Food with Special Reference to State 

Control Large 8vo, 7 50 

* McKay and Larsen's Principles and Practice of Butter-making 8vo, i 50 

Matthews's The Textile Fibres 8vo, 3 50 

Metcalf 's Steel. A Manual for Steel-users izmo, 2 00 

Metcalfe's Cost of Manufactures — And the Administoation of Workshops. 8vo, 5 00 

Meyer's Modern Locomotive Construction 4to, 10 00 

Morse's Calculations used in Cane-sugar Factories i6mo, morocco, i 50 

* Reisig's Guide to Piece-dyeing , 8vo, 25 00 

Sabin's Industrial and Artistic Technology of Paints and Varnish 8vo, 3 00 

Smith's Press-working of Metals 8vo, 3 00 

Spalding's Hydraulic Cement i2mo, 2 00 

Spencer's Handbook for Chemists of Beet-sugar Houses i6mo, morocco, 3 00 

Handbook for Cane Sugar Manufacturers i6mo, morocco, 3 00 

Taylor and Thompson's Treatise on Concrete, Plain and Reinforced 8vo, 5 00 

Thurston's Manual of Steam-boilers, their Designs, Construction and Opera- 
tion 8vo, 5 00 

* Walke's Lectures on Explosives , 8vo, 4 00 

Ware's Beet-sugar Manufacture and Refining Small 8vo, 4 00 

West's American Foundry Practice i2mo, 2 50 

Moulder's Text-book i2mo, 2 50 

Wolff's Windmill as a Prime Mover 8vo, 3 00 

Wood's Rustless Coatings: Corrosion and Electrolysis of Iron and Steel. .8vo, 4 00 

MATHEMATICS. 

Baker's Elliptic Functions 8vo, 1 50 

* Bass's Elements of Differential Calculus i2mo, 4 00 

Briggs's Elements of Plane Analytic Geometry i2mo, i 00 

Compton's Manual of Logarithmic Computations .- i2mo, i 50 

Davis's Introduction to the Logic of Algebra 8vo, i 50 

* Dickson's College Algebra Large i2mo, i 50 

* Introduction to the Theory of Algebraic Equations Large i2mo, i 25 

Emch's Introduction to Projective Geometry and its Applications 8vo, 2 50 

Halsted's Elements of Geometry 8vo, i 75 

Elementary Synthetic Geometry 8vo, i 50 

Rational Geometry i2mo, i 75 

♦Johnson's (J, B.) Three-place Logarithmic Tables: Vest-pocket size, paper, 15 

100 copies for 5 00 

* Mounted on heavy cardboard, 8X 10 inches, 25 

10 copies for 2 00 

Johnson's (W. W.) Elementary Treatise on Differential Calculus . .Small 8vo, 3 00 

Elementary Treatise on the Integral Calculus Small 8vo, i 50 

11 



Johnson's (W. W.) Curve Tracing in Cartesian Co-ordinates i2mo, i oo 

Joh»son's (W. W.) Treatise on Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations, 

Small 8vo, 3 50 
Johnson's (W, W.) Theory of Errors and the Method of Least Squares. lamo, i 50 

* Johnson's (W. W.) Theoretical Mechanics i2mo, 3 00 

Laplace's Philosophical Essay on Probabilities. (Truscott and Emory.) . i2mo, 2' 00 

* Ludlow and Bass. Elements of Trigo«ometry and Logarithmic and Other 

Tables 8vo, 3 00 

Trigonometry and Tables published separately Each, 2 00 

* Ludlow's Logarithmic and Trigonometric Tables 8vo, i 00 

Mathematical Monographs. Edited by Mansfield Merriman and Robert 

S. Woodward Octavo, each i 00 

No. I. History of Modern Mathematics, by David Eugene Smith. 
No. 2. Synthetic Projective Geometry, by George Bruce Halsted. 
No. 3. Determinants, by Laenas Gifford Weld. No. 4. Hyper- 
bolic Functions, by James McMahon. No. 5. Harmonic Func- 
tions, by William E. Byerly. No. 6. Grassmann's Space Analysis, 
by Edward W. Hyde. No. 7. Probability and Theory of Errors, 
by Robert S. Woodward. No. 8. Vector Analysis and Quaternions, 
by Alexander Macfarlane. No. 9. Differential Equations, by 
William Woolsey Johnson. No. 10. The Soluti®n of Equations, 
byl Mansfield Merriman. No. 11. Functions of a Complex Variable, 
by Thomas S. Fiskc. 

Maurer's Technical Mechanics. 8vo, 4 00 

Merriman's Method of Least Squares 8vo, 2 00 

Rice and Johnson's Elementary Treatise on the Differential Calculus. . Sm. 8vo, 3 00 

Differential and Integral Calculus. 2 vols, in one Small 8vo, 2 50 

Wood's Elements of Co-ordinate Geometry 8vo, 2 00 

Trigonometry: Analytical, Plane, and Spherical i2mo, i 00 



MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. 

MATERIALS OF ENGINEERING, STEAM-ENGINES AND BOILERS. 

Bacon's Forge Practice i2mo, 

Baldwin's Steam Heating for Buildings i2mo, 

Barr's Kinematics of Machinery 8vo, 

* Bartlett's Mechanical Drawing 8vo, 

* " " " Abridged Ed 8vo, 

Benjamin's Wrinkles and Recipes i2mo, 

Carpenter's Experimental Engineering 8vo, 

Heating and Ventilating Buildings 8vo, 

Gary's Smoke Suppression in Plants using Bituminous Coal. (In Prepara- 
tion.) 

Clerk's Gas and Oil Engine Small 8vo, 

Coolidge's Manual of Drawing 8vo, paper, 

Coolidge and Freeman's Elements of General Drafting for Mechanical En- 
gineers '. Oblong 4to, 

Cromwell's Treatise on Toothed Gearing lamo. 

Treatise on Belts and Pulleys i2mo, 

Durley's Kinematics of Machines 8vo, 

Flather's Dynamometers and the Measxxrement of Power i2mo, 

Rope Driving i2mo. 

Gill's Gas and Fuel Analysis for Engineers i2mo, 

Hall's Car Lubrication i2mo, 

Bering's Ready Reference Tables (Conversion Factors) i6mo, morocco, 

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Hutton's The Gas Engine 8vo, 

Jamison's Mechanical Drawing 8vo, 

Jones's Machine Design: 

Part I. Kinematics of Machinery 8vo, 

Part II. Form, Strength, and Proportions of Parts 8vo, 

Kent's Mechanical Engineers' Pocket-book i6mo, morecco, 

Kerr's Power and Power Transmission 8vo, 

Leonard's Machine Shop, Tools, and Methods 8vo, 

* Lorenz's Modern Refrigerating Machinery. (Pope, Haven, and Dean.) . . 8vo, 
MacCord's Kinematics; or. Practical Mechanism 8vo, 

Mechanical Drawing 4to, 

Velocity Diagrams 8vo, 

MacFar land's Standard Reduction Factors for Gases 8vo, 

Mahan's Industrial Drawing. (Thompson.) .Bvo, 

Poole's Calorific Power of Fuels 8vo, 

Reid's Course in Mechanical Drawing 8vo, 

Text-book of Mechanical Drawing and Elementary Machine Design. 8vo, 

Richard's Compressed Air lamo, 

Robinson's Principles of Mechanism 8vo, 

Schwamb and Merrill's Elements of Mechanism 8vo, 

Smith's (0.) Press- working of Metals 8vo, 

Smith (A. W.) and Marx's Machine Design 8vo, 

Thurston's Treatise on Friction and Lost Work in Machinery and Mill 
Work 8vo, 

Animal as a Machine and Prime Motor, and the Laws of Energetics . i2mo, 

Warren's Elements of Machine Construction and Drawing 8vo, 

Weisbach's Kinematics and the Power of Transmission. (Herrmann — 
Klein.) 8vo, 

Machinery of Transmission and Governors. (Herrmann — Klein.). .Svo, 

Wolff's Windmill as a Prime Mover Svo, 

Wood's Turbines Svo, 



MATERIALS OP ENGINEERING. 

* Bovey's Strength of Materials and Theory of Structures Svo, 7 50 

Burr's Elasticity and Resistance of the Materials of Engineering. 6th Edition. 

Reset Svo, 

Church's Mechanics of Engineering Svo, 

* Greene's Structural Mechanics Svo, 

Johnson's Materials of Construction Svo, 

Keep's jCast Iron Svo, 

Lanza's Applied Mechanics Svo, 

Martens 's Handbook on Testing Materials. (Henning.) Svo, 

Maurer's Technical Mechanics Svo, 

Merriman's Mechanics of Materials Svo, 

Strength of Materials i2mo, 

Metcalf's Steel. A manual for Steel-users i2mo, 

Sabin's Industrial and Artistic Technology of Paints and Varnish Svo, 

Smith's Materials of Machines i2mo, 

Thurston's Materials ef Engineering 3 vols., Svo, 

Part II. Iron and Steel. Svo, 

Part III. A Treatise on Brasses, Bronzes, and Other Alloys and their 

Constituents Svo, 

Text-book of the Materials of Construction Svo, 

Wood's (De V.) Treatise on the Resistance af Materials and an Appendix on 

the Preservation of Timber Svo, 

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Wood's (De V.) Elemetits of Analytical Mechanics 8vo, 3 00 

Wood's (M. P.) Rustless Coatings: Corrosion and Electrolysis of Iron and 

Steel 8vo , 4 00 

STEAM-ENGINES AND BOILERS. 

Berry's Temperature-entropy Diagram i2mo, i 25 

Carnot's Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat, (Thurston.) i2mo, i 50 

Dawson's "Engineering" and Electric Traction Pocket-book. . . .i6mo, mor., 5 00 

Ford's Boiler Making for Boiler Makers i8mo, i 00 

Goss's Locomotive Sparks Svo, 2 00 

Hemenway's Indicator Practice and Steam-engine Economy i2mo, 2 00 

Button's Mechanical Engineering of Power Plants Svo, 5 00 

Heat and Heat-engines Svo, 5 00 

Kent's Steam boiler Economy Svo, 4 00 

Kneass's Practice and Theory of the Injector , Svo, i 50 

MacCord's Slide-valves ^ Svo, 2 00 

Meyer's Modern Locomotive Construction 4to, 10 oc 

Peabody's Manual of the Steam-engine Indicator i2mo. i 50 

Tables of the Properties of Saturated Steam and Other Vapors Svo, i 00 

Thermodynamics of the Steam-engine and Other Heat-engines Svo, 5 00 

Valve-gears for Steam-engines Svo, 2 50 

Peabody and Miller's Steam-boilers Svo, 4 00 

Pray's Twenty Years with the Indicator Large Svo, 2 50 

Pupin's Thermodynamics of Reversible Cycles in Gases and Saturated Vapors. 

(Osterberg.) i2mo, i 25 

Reagan's Locomotives: Simple Compound, and Electric i2mo, 2 50 

Rontgen's Principles of Thermodynamics. (Du Bois.) Svo, 5 00 

Sinclair's Locomotive Engine Running and Management i2mo, 2 00 

Smart's Handbook of Engineering Laboratory Practice i2mo, 2 "50 

Snow's Steam-boiler Practice Svo, 3 00 

Spangler's Valve-gears Svo, 2 50 

Notes on Thermodynamics i2mo, i 00 

Spangler, Greene, and Marshall's Elements of Steam-engineejing . Svo, 3 00 

Thomas's Steam-turbines Svo, 3 50 

Thurston's Handy Tables Svo, i 50 

Manual of the Steam-engine 2 vols., Svo, 10 00 

Part I. History, Structure, and Theory Svo, 6 00 

Part II. Design, Construction, and Operation Svo, 6 00 

Handbook of Engine and Boiler Trials, and the Use of the Indicator and 

the Prony Brake Svo, 5 00 

Stationary Steam-engines Svo, 2 50 

Steam-boiler Explosions in Theory and in Practice i2mo, i 50 

Manual of Steam-boilers, their Designs, Construction, and Operation Svo', 5 00 

Weisbach's Heat, Steam, and Steam-engines. (Du Bois.) Svo, 5 00 

Whitham's Steam-engine Design Svo, s 00 

Wood's Thermodynamics, Heat Motors, and Refrigerating Machines. . .Svo, 4 00 



MECHANICS AND MACHINERY. 

Barr's Kinematics of Machinery Svo, 2 50 

*,Bovey's Strength of Materials and Theory of Structures Svo, 7 50 

Chase's The Art of Pattern-making i2mo, 2 50 

Church's Mechanics of Engineering Svo, 6 00 

Notes and Examples in Mechanics Svo, 2 00 

Compton's First Lessons in Metal-working i2mo, i 50 

Compton and De Groodt's The Speed Lathe i2mo i 50 

14 



Cromwell's Treatise on Toothed Gearing i2mo, i 50 

Treatise on Belts and Pulleys i2mo> ". 50 

Dana's Text-book of Elementary Mechanics for Colleges and Schools. . i2mo, i 50 

Dingey's Machinery Pattern Making i2mo, 2 00 

Dredge's Record of the Transportation Exhibits Building of the World's 

Columbian Exposition of 1893 4to half morocco, 5 00 

Du Bois's Elementary Principles of Mechanics : 

Vol. I. Kinematics 8vo, 

Vol. II. Statics. 8vo, 

Mechanics of Engineering. Vol. I Small 4to, 

Vol. II Small 4to, 

Durley's Kinematics of Machines 8vo, 

Fitzgerald's Boston Machinist i6mo, 

Flather's Dynamometers, and the Measurement ef Power i2mo, 

Rope Driving i2mo, 

Goss's Locomotive Sparks 8vo, 

* Greene's Structural Mechanics 8vo, 

Hall's Car Lubrication i2mo, 

HoUy's Art of Saw Filing i8mo, 

James's Kinematics of a Point and the Rational Mechanics of a Particle. 

Small Svo, 

* Johnson's (W. W.) Theoretical Mechanics. . ,. : i2mo, 

Johnson's (L. J.) Statics by Graphic and Algebraic Methods Svo, 

Jones's Machine Design: 

Part I. Kinematics of Machinery Svo, 

Part II. Form, Strength, and Proportions of Parts Svo, 

Kerr's Power and Power Transmission Svo, 

Lanza's Applied Mechanics Svo, 

Leonard's Machine Shop, Tools, and Methods Svo, 

* Lorenz's Modern Refrigerating Machinery. (Pope, Haven, and Dean.) .Svo, 
MacCord's Kinematics; or. Practical Mechanism Svo, 

Velocity Diagrams Svo, 

Maurer's Technical Mechanics Svo, 

Merriman's Mechanics of Materials Svo, 

* Elements of Mechanics i2mo, 

* Michie's Elements of Analytical Mechanics Svo, 

Reagan's Locomotives: Simple, Compound, and Electric lamo, 

Reid's Course in Mechanical Drawing Svo, 

Text-book of Mechanical Drawing and Elementary Machine Design. Svo, 

Richards's Compressed Air i2mo, 

Robinson's Principles of Mechanism Svo, 

Ryan, Norris, and Hoxie's Electrical Machinery. Vol. I. Svo, 

Schwamb and Merrill's Elements of Mechanism Svo, 

Sinclair's Locomotive-engine Running and Management i2mo, 

Smith's (O.) Press-working of Metals Svo, 

Smith's (A. W.) Materials of Machines i2mo, 

Smith (A. W.) and Marx's Machine Design Svo, 

Spangler, Greent.and MarshaL's Elements of Steam-engineering Svo, 

Thurston's Treatise on Friction and Lost "Work in Machinery and Mill 

Work Svo, 3 00 

Animal as a Machine and Prime Motor, and the Laws of Energetics. 

i2mo, 

Warren's Elements of Machine Construction and Drawing Svo, 

Weisbach's Kinematics and Power of Transmission. (Herrmann — Klein.) . Svo, 

Machinery of Transmission and Governors. (Herrmann — Klein.). Svo, 
Wood's Elements of Analytical Mechanics Svo, 

Principles of Elementary Mechanics i2mo, 

Txirbines Svo, 

The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 4to, 

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METALLURGY. 

Egleston's Metallurgy of Silver, Gold, and Mercury: 

Vol. I. Silver 8vo, 7 50 

Vol. II. Gold and Mercury 8vo, 7 50 

** Iles's Lead-smelting. (Postage 9 cents additional.) i2mo, 2 50 

Keep's Cast Iron 8vo, 2 50 

Kunhardt's Practice of Ore Dressing in Europe 8vo, i 50 

Le Chatelier's High-temperature Measurements. (Boudouard — Burgess.)i2mo. 3 00 

Metcalf' s Steel. A Manual for Steel-users i2mo, 2 00 

Minet's Production of Aluminum and its Industrial Use. (Waldo.). . . . i2mo, 2 50 

Robine and Lenglen's Cyanide Industry. (Le Clerc.) 8vo, 4 00 

Smith's Materials of Machines i2mo, i 00 

Thurston's Materials of Engineering. In Three Parts 8vo, 8 00 

Part II. Iron and Steel 8vo, 3 50 

Part III. A Treatise on Brasses, Bronzes, and Other Alloys and their 

Constituents 8vo, 2 50 

Ulke's Modern Electrolytic Copper Refining 8vo, 3 00 



MINERALOGY. 



Barringer's Descriptioru of Minerals of Commercial Value. Oblong, morocco, 2 50 

Boyd's Resources of Southwest Virginia 8vo, 3 00 

Map of Southwest Virignia Pocket-book form. 2 00 

Brush's Manual of Determinative Mineralogy. (Penfield.) 8vo, 4 00 

Chester's Catalogue of Minerals 8vo, paper, i 00 

Cloth, I 25 

Dictionary of the Names of Minerals 8vo, 3 50 

Dana's System of Mineralogy Large Svo, half leather, 12 50 

First Appendix to Dana's New " System of Mineralogy." Large Svo, i 00 

Text-book of Mineralogy 8vo, 4 00 

. Minerals and How to Study Them i2mo, i 50 

Catalogue of American Localities of Minerals Large Svo, i 00 

Manual of Mineralogy and Petrography i2mo, 2 00 

Douglas's Untechnical Addresses on Technical Subjects i2mo, i 00 

Eakle's Mineral Tables Svo, i 25 

Egleston's Catalogue of Minerals and Synonyms Svo, 2 50 

Hussak's The Determination of Rock-forming Minerals. (Smith.). Small Svo, 2 00 

Merrill's Non-metallic Minerals: Their Occurrerce and Uses Svo, 4 00 

* Penfield's Notes on Determinative Mineralogy and Record of Mineral Tests. 

Svo, paper, 50 
Rosenbusch's Microscopical Physiography of the Rock-making Minerals. 

(Iddings. ) Svo, 5 00 

* Tillman's Text-book of Important Minerals and Rocks Syo, 2 00 



MINING. 

Beard's Ventilation of Mines i2mo, 2 50 

Boyd's Resources of Southwest Virginia Tvo, 3 00 

Map of Southwest Virginia Pocket-book form 2 00 

Douglas's Untechnical Addresses on Technical Subjects i2mo. i 00 

♦Drinker's Tunneling, Explosive Compounds, and Rock Drills. .4to,hf. mor., 25 00 

Eissler's Modern High Explosives Svo, 4 00 

16 



Goodyear's Coal-mines of the Western Coast of the United States i2nio, 2 50 

Ihlseng's Manual of Mining 8vo, 5 00 

** Iles's Lead-smelting. (Postage gc. additional.) i2mo, 2 50 

Kunhardt's Practice of Ore Dressing in Europe 8vo, i 50 

O'DriscoU's Notes on the Treatment of Gold Ores 8vo, 2 00 

Robine and Lenglen's Cyanide Industry. (Le Clerc.) Svo, 4 00 

* Walke's Lectures on Explosives Svo, 4 06 

Wilson's Cyanide Processes i2mo, i 50 

Chlorination Process i2mo, i 50 

Hydraulic and Placer Mining i2mo, 2 00 

Treatise on Practical and Theoretical Mine Ventilation T2mo, i 25 



SANITARY SCIENCE. 

Bashore's Sanitation ef a Country House i2nio, 

Folwell's Sewerage. (Designing, Construction, and Maintenance.) Svo, 

Water-supply Engineering Svo, 

Fowler's Sewage Works Analyses I2m3, 

Fuertes's Water and PubUc Health i2mo. 

Water-filtration Works i2mo, 

Gerhard's Guide to Sanitary House-inspection i6mo, 

Goodrich's Economic Disposal of Town's Refuse Demy Svo, 

Hazen's Filtration of Public Water-supplies Svo, 

Leach's The Inspection and Analysis of Food with Special Reference to State 

Control Svo, 

Mason's Water-supply. (Considered principally from a Sanitary Standpoint) Svo, 

Examination of Water. (Chemical and Bacteriological.) i2mo, 

Ogden's Sewer Design lamo, 

Prescott and Winslow's Elements of Water Bacteriology, with Special Refer- 
ence to Sanitary Water Analysis i2mo, 

* Price's Handbook on Sanitation i2mo, 

Richards's Cost of Food. A Study in Dietaries i2mo, 

Cost of Living as Modified by Sanitary Science i2mo. 

Cost of Shelter i2mo, 

Richards and Woodman's Air, Water, and Food from a Sanitary Stand- 
point Svo, 

* Richards and Williams's The Dietary Computer Svo, 

Rideal's Sewage and Bacterial Purification of Sewage Svo, 

Turneaure and Russell's Public Water-supplies Svo, 

Von Behring's Suppression of Tuberculosis. (Bolduan.) i2mo, 

Whipple's Microscopy of Drinking-water Svo, 

Winton's Microscopy of Vegetable Foods Svo, 

WoodhuU's Notes on Military Hygiene i6mo, 

* Personal Hygiene i2mo. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

De Fursac's Manual of Psychiatry. (Rosanoff and Collins.). . . .Large i2mo, 2 50 
Emmons's Geological Guide-took of the Rocky Mountain Excursion of the 

International Congress of Geologists Large Cvo, i 50 

Ferrel's Popular Treatise on the Winds Svo' 4 00 

Haines's American Railway Management i2mo, 2 50 

Mott's Fallacy of the Present Theory of Sound i6mo, i 00 

Ricketts's History of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1S24-1S94. .Small Svo, 3 00 

Rostoski's Serum Diagnosis. (Bolduan.) i2mo. i 00 

Rotherham's Emphasized New Testament Large Svo, 2 00 

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Steel's Treatise on the Diseases of the Dog Svo, 3 50 

The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 4to, i 00 

Von Behring's Suppression of Tuberculosis. (Bolduan.) i2mo, i 00 

Winslow's Elements of Applied Microscopy i2mo, i 50 

Worcester and Atkinson. Small Hospitals, Establishment and Maintenance; 

Suggestions for Hospital Architecture : Plans for Small Hospital . 1 2mo , 125 



HEBREW AND CHALDEE TEXT-BOOKS. 

Green's Elementary Hebrew Grammar i2mo, i 25 

Hebrew Chrestomathy Svo, 2 00 

Gesenius's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures. 

(Tregelles.) Small 4to, half morocco, 5 00 

Letteris's Hebrew Bible Svo, 2 25 

18 



MAY 17 tout) 



I 



